


In Your Eyes

by flowerfan



Category: Glee
Genre: College, Homophobia, M/M, NYADA, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-06 04:51:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6738838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerfan/pseuds/flowerfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU after 4x04; Blaine is in his first year at NYADA, living in the dorms and getting along well enough with Kurt; it’s been over a year since their break-up in the fall of Blaine’s senior year of high school.  Despite the fact that Sebastian is also going to college in New York, Blaine hasn’t seen him yet, although they had forged a casual friendship back in Ohio.  But when Blaine runs into Sebastian at the beginning of his Thanksgiving break, things take an unexpected turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note: While this fic is not unfriendly to Kurt, it does involve Blaine moving on. Kurt is almost entirely offscreen. If this isn’t your cup of tea, please don’t read.  
> \---  
> Many thanks to my wonderful friend and beta perry_avenue, for her invaluable assistance and support.

_November, 2013_

Blaine shuffles his way down the aisle of the packed airplane, trying not to hit anyone with his overstuffed carry on as it swings from his shoulder. It’s the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and it seems like all of New York City is emptying out for the holiday.

Of course Blaine’s seat is in the back, practically the very last row, and he tries to be patient as he waits for the passengers in front of him to get settled and let him past. He isn’t opposed to helping people get their bags up into the overhead compartments, but he is also really looking forward to just collapsing into his seat and closing his eyes for the flight back to Ohio. Classes at NYADA have been just as tough as Kurt and Rachel had warned him, and right now he wants nothing more than a few days to recharge, completely devoid of any singing, dancing, or dramatic impromptu readings in the hallway.

It’s just as well that Kurt and Rachel are staying in the city for the holiday, he thinks, holding a flustered woman’s coffee as she squeezes herself into a middle seat. Going to school with them hadn’t been as difficult as he had worried it might be. He and Kurt have been broken up for over a year now, and Blaine thinks they are navigating their lives as “just friends” moderately well. They don’t have any classes together (in part due to the fact that Kurt was a semester ahead of him, and in part due to Rachel’s careful suggestions about what electives Kurt might or might not be interested in taking, giving Blaine every opportunity to make his own choices), which helped lessen the tension. And Blaine had chosen to live in the dorms and get as much of a real college experience as he could, so he has rapidly found people to hang out with who didn’t know him only as that guy that Kurt used to date.

But even with everyone on their best behavior, it is still weird seeing Kurt in the cafeteria or between classes, often on the arm of his current boyfriend, Louis. Rachel assures Blaine on a regular basis that Louis isn’t “the one,” but he finds that it doesn’t even matter so much anymore. He and Kurt had something special once, there is no doubt in his mind about that. But now they are just friends – actually just friends - and are better off that way.

Blaine finally reaches his row, and his eyes fly open when he sees who is sitting in the middle seat. Huh. Maybe the flight won’t be so boring after all.

“Sebastian,” he breathes out, shaking his head in disbelief. “Of course it’s you.” He hasn’t seen Sebastian since the Warblers pool party at the end of the summer, an afternoon of competitive karaoke followed by an evening of not particularly good beer, but he realizes that he’s rather pleased at the thought of having a little time to hang out with Sebastian again. 

Sebastian raises his head, and a smile tugs at the side of his mouth. “Blaine. Fancy meeting you here.”

Blaine glances down at his ticket. He has the window seat, but it seems like it would be rude to crawl over Sebastian to get there. “Want to just slide over? I can take the middle.”

Sebastian looks excited for a moment, but then his shoulders slump. “No, sorry. I’ve got to stay here.”

Before Blaine can question Sebastian’s unusual interest in the seat with the least possible legroom, his question is answered.

“Damn, this flight is crowded,” an irritated voice proclaims. “They made me check my bag – it’ll take us hours to get it back at the other end.”

Blaine turns to see a tall, broad-shouldered man hovering behind him, green eyes glaring.

“Do you mind moving?” he says to Blaine. “I’d like to get into my seat.”

“Whit, don’t be an ass,” Sebastian says, then nods to Blaine. “Come on, Blaine, you can slide by.”

Left without any option, Blaine inches his way into the row and awkwardly climbs over Sebastian’s ridiculously long legs, trying not to think about how close his backside is to Sebastian’s face as he does this.

“You could have moved out of the way,” Blaine mutters to Sebastian as he plops down into his own seat. Instead of the wink or smirk he expected, however, Sebastian just looks apologetic.

“Sorry,” Sebastian mutters.

“You guys know each other?” 

Blaine watches the man – Whit – settle into the seat on the end, legs spread into Sebastian’s space on one side and in the aisle on the other. Blaine waits a beat for Sebastian to respond, but he’s busy trying to shrink himself down so that he isn’t touching either of the people sitting next to him.

Okay, well then, might as well meet Sebastian’s… boyfriend? He’s a bit older than Sebastian, but you never know. “Blaine Anderson,” Blaine says, holding his hand out and receiving a firm shake as the man reaches across Sebastian’s chest. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Whitman Emerson Smythe,” the man says in response, and suddenly Blaine can’t understand why he didn’t see it instantly. This has to be Sebastian’s older brother, financial whiz kid turned hedge fund genius. They have the same green eyes, but the similarity ends there; Whitman has a physical heaviness to him that seems like it could snap Sebastian’s lithe body in two.

“Anderson… you’re a Dalton boy, aren’t you?” Whitman says, a bored look on his face. “Saw your name on some newsletter. Damn place is always asking for money. Bet you didn’t think you’d wind up in this cattle car either.”

Whitman doesn’t waste any more time on Blaine – no questions about what he’s doing in the city, where he’s going to school, no friendly banter of any type. He just snaps a few words of criticism at Sebastian and then pulls out his laptop and, apparently, tends to more important things.

It’s an entirely awkward situation, and Blaine is just beginning to wish he stayed in the city after all, when Sebastian speaks up, head canted towards Blaine. “I’m really sorry about him,” Sebastian says in a low whisper. 

Blaine glances over at Sebastian. His shoulders are pulled in, his hands clasped in his lap, and his knees are pressed uncomfortably against the seat in front of them. 

“It’s all right.” Blaine smiles softly at Sebastian. “I know a thing or two about annoying big brothers.”

“Do you mind keeping it down?” Whitman says, shooting Sebastian an impatient look. “It’s bad enough you waited too long to get us tickets in first class, I don’t need to listen to you two babbling all the way home.”

They’re barely speaking loud enough to be heard, and the noise from the rest of the passengers is far louder than they are, but the biting retort Blaine expects from Sebastian doesn’t come. Instead - “Want to use my headphones?” Sebastian says genuinely. Whitman just looks at him as if he’s grown another head and then turns back to his work. 

Blaine shrugs a little at Sebastian, and then leans against the window and closes his eyes. His exhaustion is overwhelming his interest in catching up with Seb, and he isn’t really interested in having Whitman yell at either of them anymore, or listen in on their conversation. For a moment Blaine ponders the bizarreness of the entire situation – he and Sebastian go to school just a few miles from each other, and yet he doesn’t run into him until now, sitting in a cramped airplane seat next to him and his remarkably far more arrogant brother. 

Blaine doesn’t worry the question long, however, before he is fast asleep. He doesn’t know how much time has gone by before he is jarred awake by the bouncing of the plane, “just a bit of turbulence” someone assures them over the speaker. He bunches his coat up under his cheek and is about to slip back into dreamland when he hears Whitman and Sebastian talking.

It’s not pleasant – not that their previous exchange would have suggested that it would be, but it’s still painful to listen to. Whitman is teasing Sebastian about his sex life, or his lack of sex life – it’s hard to tell. Then there’s a dose of “can’t imagine why anyone would put up with you anyway” and some jibe Blaine doesn’t understand about “an inappropriate ‘plus one’.”

It sounds like Sebastian has given up trying to defend himself. Then Whitman says something he can’t fully hear about how “your little preppy boy can’t even stand to touch you” and Blaine’s stomach clenches. Sebastian may have his faults – many of them – but despite all his talk, Blaine can’t imagine why Whitman would be so painfully awful to Sebastian… but then he figures it out.

“I thought you told mom you weren’t going to bring any of your faggy friends home?”

Blaine feels his insides freeze, and his heart speed up, the way it always does when he hears someone speak that way. It doesn’t matter that he’s been out and proud for years, or that he lives in a more accepting city now. It still hurts. And coming from Sebastian’s own brother, it’s got to hurt Sebastian even more. Blaine doesn’t want to let Whitman get away with it.

Without pausing to let himself think too long, Blaine rubs his eyes a little and turns over, nestling his head on Sebastian’s shoulder and putting his hand on his arm. He feels Sebastian stiffen underneath him, thinks he might actually shake him off. Maybe he thinks Blaine is too fast asleep to know what he’s doing?

“It’s okay, relax,” Blaine says softly into Sebastian’s ear. He wants to let Sebastian know he’s doing this on purpose, that he’s not just sleep cuddling. Blaine takes in a deep breath, and finds himself warming at the realization that Sebastian smells really good. He’d almost laugh, if he wasn’t afraid that would just make the situation worse. To be fair, he’s never spent this much time touching Sebastian – really hasn’t spent any time touching him, aside from quick hugs hello and goodbye. It’s frankly quite pleasant.

“God, must you?” Whitman’s sharp voice brings Blaine back to reality. Thankfully Whitman gets up and heads down the aisle, presumably going to the bathroom or just eager to put some space between himself and his disappointingly gay brother.

Sebastian is still confused. “Blaine?” 

“It’s fine,” Blaine says quietly as he can. “You’re brother’s an ass, I’m exhausted, and you are surprisingly comfy for someone so bony. Let me sleep here and I’ll buy you a drink when we get home.”

“Are you serious?”

“Anywhere but Scandals.”

Blaine feels Sebastian huff out a laugh, and then concentrates on falling back asleep. It isn’t difficult, given how tired he is, and how nice it feels to lean into Sebastian. He may have done this for show, but it’s been a long time since Blaine has fallen asleep next to someone else, and he decides he might as well enjoy it. 

He vaguely registers Whitman coming back to his seat, and muttering something to Sebastian about appropriate behavior in public. Sebastian doesn’t answer, but his hand comes up to rest on Blaine’s shoulder, and Blaine hums in approval and gives Sebastian’s arm a squeeze. _This isn’t wrong,_ he thinks, hoping Sebastian can somehow receive the message he is trying to send. _You aren’t wrong._

Blaine doesn’t wake up again until the flight attendant comes by to tell them all to put their seats in the locked and upright position. He sits up quickly and rubs his face, hoping he didn’t drool on Sebastian’s cashmere sweater. Whitman is gone, and Sebastian explains that he managed to sweet talk his way into first class after all. It’s clear Sebastian is not upset about this development. It’s also clear that despite his brother’s departure, he had continued to let Blaine snuggle undisturbed.

They gather their things and shuffle off the airplane as if nothing of note has taken place. As if Sebastian isn’t going home with a homophobic brother to spend the holiday with what seems to be a not particularly tolerant family. As if Blaine didn’t spend the past hour or so sleeping on his shoulder. As if everything is normal.

Maybe it is normal, for Sebastian. Blaine knows families can be rough, and real life is hard, and increasingly strange even when he thought being an adult would make things easier. He watches Whitman hand his bags to the uniformed man holding a sign that says “Smythe,” and as they walk away, Sebastian turns and gives Blaine a half-hearted wave.

Pam chatters at Blaine all the way home, and it isn’t until much later that night, snug under his old plaid comforter, that Blaine notices the text from Sebastian.

_I’m taking you up on your offer before you change your mind. Pick you up at nine o’clock tomorrow night?_

Blaine can’t help but smile. He’s not even sure why – this week is supposed to be for hanging out with his mother and Cooper (if he shows), other assorted family and friends, and hopefully Sam. He didn’t plan any time for pseudo-dates with high school frenemies. But he realizes he wants to see Sebastian again, and he’s not going to overthink it.

_Only if you tell me how you managed to smell so good. No one on that airplane smelled good._

_I’ll share my secret when I see you._

_Then we’re on._

*****  
Blaine checks himself in the hall mirror as he waits downstairs for Sebastian to pick him up. He’s wearing the same clothes he’s had on all day – he didn’t pack that much for the week, and doesn’t want to seem like he put too much effort into getting ready. On the other hand, this morning he had put on one of his favorite shirts, navy blue with a pattern of yellow and green sprinkled over it, and dark yellow pants that hugged his ass in all the right places. He kept the shirt buttoned all the way up to his neck, and thought briefly about adding a bowtie, just for an extra touch of formality in honor of the upcoming holiday, then decided against it. He was just fine the way he was.

Sebastian is right on time, so prompt that he was probably waiting around the corner until the clock struck nine. He’s driving his dad’s black Audi from quite a few years ago, but it’s clean as a whistle inside and has that lovely aroma of real leather seats. Blaine wonders if he got it detailed today, or if Sebastian’s father is one of those people that never lets you eat in the car or bring your cup of coffee inside.

There’s a relatively new restaurant in downtown Lima that Sebastian had suggested, and Blaine can tell he’s going to enjoy it from the minute they go in. It’s clearly catering to an upscale crowd, but with a more relaxed bar area with music playing and what looks like a few pool tables in the back. They find a table near the bar and order a bottle of red wine and some snacks off an ample menu.

They’ve been making small talk without much consequence for a while. It’s easy enough to do, talking about Sebastian’s classes at Columbia, and Blaine’s take on NYADA. They have a few friends in common in the city – Trent is at NYU, and another Warbler is taking a year to teach before going to school, and they trade information on what everyone is up to. Blaine keeps waiting for Sebastian to mention Kurt – he tends to be the first question on the tip of everyone’s tongue when he’s back home – but Sebastian never does.

Blaine is tapping his foot to the music playing in the background, and he almost starts singing along before he catches himself. The song is “Glad You Came,” one of the numbers the Warblers dedicated to Karofsky when they performed it at Regionals his junior year. That may have been only a few years ago, but the difference between the Sebastian back then and the one who is sitting with Blaine now is remarkable. 

When their wine arrives, they clink their glasses together and then Sebastian smiles nervously at Blaine. “Thanks for coming out with me tonight.”

“I did say I’d buy you a drink. It’s my pleasure.” His response is almost automatic, but it doesn’t make it less true. 

Blaine takes a moment to admire Sebastian when he gets up to use the bathroom. Sebastian is wearing a blue blazer over an oxford shirt and dark jeans – it could almost be their Dalton uniform, and Blaine teases him gently about it when he returns to the table.

He could swear that Sebastian looks embarrassed. “I packed for a week with my family. It’s just… easier to be what they expect.”

“If preppy is the norm, why did Whitman make that comment about me?” Blaine asks, before he remembers he wasn’t going to bring up Whitman unless Sebastian did first. Oh well, the elephant in the room was sure to make an entrance eventually.

Sebastian plays with his wine glass for a moment, then sets it down on the table, still holding the stem with both hands. “I think he was trying to draw a contrast between you and the men he thinks I associate with.”

“What does that mean?”

Sebastian glances briefly at Blaine, then returns his gaze to his glass. “Back in September, I had a crush on an upperclassman. I met him in my philosophy of science class, and I was just, I don’t know, taken with him. We flirted for a few days and then went out to a party together.” Sebastian sighs. “It didn’t go well.”

“That can happen,” Blaine says quietly, hoping Sebastian will continue.

“Yeah, well it happened the night before I was scheduled to meet Whitman for brunch. I showed up late to this fancy hotel restaurant, hungover and miserable. I thought he was going to read me the riot act, but instead he was actually sympathetic, at least at first. I was caught off guard, and proceeded to pour my heart out to him, the entire sad tale of woe. Boy meets crush, crush just wants one thing, boy feels like dirt.”

“And?”

Sebastian takes a long drink from his glass. “After I finished, he lit into me about the dangers of the ‘gay lifestyle’ and how he figured that when I got what I deserved I’d come to my senses.”

“Sebastian.” Blaine puts his hand around Sebastian’s wrist. “I’m sorry.”

Sebastian nods. “It wasn’t the best way to start the semester.” He rubs his hand over his face, and when he looks back up at Blaine, there’s something open and tentative in his eyes. “I really don’t know what to say about yesterday, about what you did…”

“Should I be buying you multiple drinks?”

Sebastian’s eyes grow wide. “No, no, that’s not it at all. What you did… it was perfect.”

Sebastian holds his gaze, and Blaine feels his face warm. “Um, thank you.”

“The look on Whitman’s face… there was nothing you could have said, or I could have said, but what you did… what were you thinking?”

He’s really asking, not criticizing. It’s hard to put it into words, but Blaine wants to try. The look on Sebastian’s face says that he needs it.

“He was making you feel dirty; small. Unworthy of anyone’s time or affection. I guess I wanted to show him that wasn’t true.”

Sebastian just stares at him for a moment, until Blaine has to blink and turn his focus to the extremely interesting platter of fried calamari they have hardly touched. He’s wondering how to continue the conversation, when Sebastian does it for him.

“What are you doing on Saturday?”

“Saturday? I…” His mental calendar goes blank as he notices someone at the bar who definitely shouldn’t be there. Sebastian follows his gaze, and raises an eyebrow when he sees the blond man quickly stand up and duck around the corner of the bar, heading back towards the restrooms.

“Is that…?”

“Sam,” Blaine says, standing up from his chair. “Give me a minute?”

Blaine finds Sam hovering in the hallway near the restroom, trying to pretend that he hadn’t seen Blaine approaching him.

“Dude, hey, what are you doing here?” Sam says innocently.

Blaine accepts Sam’s hearty hug, but doesn’t linger. “You know what I’m doing here. I told you I was coming here with Sebastian tonight.”

“Oh, wow, is this that same place?” Sam’s eyes are wide and he is waving his hand around as if to indicate surprise. “What a coincidence.”

There’s a movement behind him, and then Ryder is in the hallway too, looking apologetic. “Sorry, Blaine. We just thought you might need some back-up.”

Blaine has to laugh at the expression on Sam’s face when Ryder gives them up. “Sam, relax, I knew why you were here.” He glances back at Sebastian, who is smiling broadly at them from the table. If they had really wanted to intimidate him, they should have brought Santana. “Come on, come have a drink with us.”

“No, that’s okay-” Ryder begins.

“Sure, that’s awesome!” Sam overrides him, and Blaine leads them back to their table. They order a pitcher of margaritas (no one bothers to card them, even though they all have their fake ID’s at the ready) and then Blaine brings Sebastian up to speed.

“Sam’s helping coach McKinley’s football team, and Ryder’s the quarterback, so they spend a lot of quality time together.”

“When you aren’t spying on your friend in neighborhood bars,” Sebastian says smugly, and Blaine gives him a shove. 

“Be nice.”

Sam tries to deny it again, but Sebastian just shakes his head. “It’s okay. You guys care about Blaine. That’s cool.”

Sam gives up and shrugs. “It wasn’t just for Blaine. I had to get away from all my cousins.”

“Sam, you only have two cousins. And one of them is an infant,” Blaine points out.

“Yeah, but she’s really loud.”

The conversation turns to college football and who everyone is rooting for. Ryder is lamenting over something about the difference between college and pro games when Sam leans over and whispers into Blaine’s ear. “You’re okay, right?”

Blaine nods and smiles. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“No loaded slushies?”

It’s been a long time since that incident, but Sam hasn’t forgotten. “No loaded slushies.”

After they finish their drinks, they wander over to the pool tables and start a game. Blaine is feeling just tipsy enough not to care that he really sucks at pool, and just goes along with the others, enjoying his friends’ company and the spark of variety Sebastian adds to the group.

Sam seems to take Blaine’s reassurance at face value, and treats Sebastian with his trademark casual good nature. Ryder follows Sam’s lead for the most part (Blaine makes note of this and tucks it away for further consideration – since when did the two of them become such good friends?) although he’s a little shy around the older boys. Sebastian makes an effort to include him, however, as well as Sam, and their conversation flows freely, aided by the fact that Sam and Ryder are clearly winning the game.

Blaine smiles when Sebastian misses a shot, loving the mildly frustrated look that comes over his face, and the way he runs his hand through his increasingly messy hair. Blaine really shouldn’t be so curious about how it would feel to do that himself, he thinks, but it’s hard to resist. Sebastian is ridiculously attractive, especially when he’s biting his lip and trying to figure out whether there’s any possible way to reverse their losing streak.

From time to time, Blaine can’t help but notice Sebastian looking at him, especially when he’s leaning over the table setting up a shot. The third time it happens Blaine cocks a hip and makes the most of it, and Sebastian blushes when he realizes he’s been caught. 

“Pick your jaw up off the floor, Smythe,” Sam says. “Blaine’s not interested.”

They all laugh. Blaine expects Sebastian to respond with a witty comment or even a questionable pick up line, but he doesn’t. Instead, Sebastian just looks down at the floor. He might even be blushing. 

Blaine sidles up next to him and bumps him with his hip. “Slide over, I need to set up my next shot,” he says, giving Sebastian a smile. Sebastian’s eyes flicker up to his own and then back down to the floor, but the smile has returned to his face as well. Sebastian moves over, as requested, but Blaine stays close to him, letting their arms brush as he turns this way and that, getting ready to shoot. He knows he’s going to miss regardless, but it suddenly feels right to be here next to Sebastian.

Sebastian and Blaine finally admit defeat, and suffer through a little victory dance Sam and Ryder perform, complete with a complicated hand-slapping routine. They are far too happy to drive home on their own, so Blaine calls them an Uber and promises Sam that he’ll bring him back to the bar tomorrow morning to pick up his car.

Sebastian, on the other hand, appears to be completely sober, and Blaine has no qualms about getting into his car with him. Sebastian turns on the radio, which is set to a soft jazz station. Blaine relaxes back into the comfortable leather seat. He’s pretty sure that he hasn’t had such a good night in a long time.

When they reach Blaine’s house Sebastian pops out of the car and walks Blaine to his front door. He’s got his hands shoved into his pockets, and is clearly struggling with something he wants to say. Blaine waits for a moment, admiring the way the porch light is reflecting in his green eyes, and then finally takes pity on him.

“I had a really nice time tonight, Sebastian.”

He looks at him directly, then, eyes questioning. “You did?”

Blaine nods. “I did.”

Sebastian bites his lip, pulls his hands out of his pockets and wrings them together, and then seems to make up his mind. “Is Sam right?”

Blaine quickly thinks back to the evening, unable to identify anything along the lines of flying saucer conspiracies Sam might have opined on. “About what? If he was trying to convince you that NYADA is a school for witches, then no.”

“About you.” Sebastian looks down, then back up at Blaine. “Being not interested.”

Blaine feels a nervous shiver run through him, and it’s enough to make him pause and really think before he answers. There’s no doubt that he finds Sebastian physically attractive, but that’s nothing new. Something else is there, though, something born out of what he has learned about Sebastian over the past few days. It’s enough to overcome the automatic reaction he’s built up to Sebastian’s advances over the years, which, to be fair, have become so lighthearted that they are more a fond reminiscence, a shared inside joke, than anything else. 

He likes spending time with Sebastian, and frankly wants to keep doing it. He likes the way he can make Sebastian feel, the way his attention seems to comfort him. But it’s so hard to forget the things Sebastian has done, the knee jerk reaction most of the New Directions ( _don’t think about Kurt don’t think about Kurt_ ) would have if they heard he was dating Sebastian Smythe.

“I’m not sure,” he finally says, looking at Sebastian apologetically.

Sebastian nods slowly, accepting this. “Okay.” He doesn’t seem upset, instead he stands up a little straighter, then steps forward and gives Blaine a soft kiss on the cheek, his hand resting on Blaine’s arm for just a moment as he steps back. “Good night, Blaine.”

“Good night.”

Sebastian walks off towards his car, turning to give him a small smile and a wave as he gets in. It reminds him of when they were at the airport the other day, Sebastian walking away with his brother, and something tugs at his insides. Blaine may not be sure yet how he feels about Sebastian, but he’s beginning to think he should figure it out.


	2. Chapter 2

On Thanksgiving Blaine, Cooper and Pam spend the day at his aunt’s house. His mom’s sister is so much like Pam that it’s uncanny, and Blaine always enjoys spending time with her, as well as his uncle and their two daughters. His cousins are older than Blaine but younger than Cooper, yet somehow they all get along. Emily lives in Columbus with her boyfriend and works as a buyer for a department store, and Tori is finishing her last year at Northwestern. Cooper had flown in the night before, but he’s in fine form today, and Blaine can’t help but compare his loving, goofy sibling to the horrendous Whitman Smythe.

They eat their big turkey dinner at lunchtime, then go for a walk around the neighborhood to avoid immediately slipping into food comas. Blaine and Cooper are walking with Tori, who is trying to decide whether or not she wants to apply to law school or try something like consulting for a few years first. Cooper has his opinions, of course, and Blaine tries to offer some advice as well, but it’s hard to know what to say. He’s glad that he has a few years before he has to decide anything more specific than “make art and help people.” Getting into NYADA was accomplishment enough for the time being. He just wants to do as well as he can and leave his options open.

He must have stopped paying attention to the conversation at some point, as Cooper shoves him in the arm. “Answer the lady, squirt.”

“Hmm?”

Tori laughs. She sounds just like her mom – and consequently just like Pam. “I just asked you if there was anyone special in your life these days, now that you’re swimming in the big sea of New York City.”

Blaine immediately thinks of Sebastian, but he’s not ready to open that can of worms in front of Cooper. “Not so far,” he says, smiling.

But Cooper must see something in his eyes that Blaine didn’t mean to share. “You’ll tell me when we get home, right bro?” he whispers when Tori has jogged ahead to talk to her sister. “First dates are great material for me to practice, especially ones that are a little, you know…” He’s making a face like he swallowed a particularly rancid egg.

“Cooper, what makes you think that my first dates don’t go well?” 

Cooper shrugs. “If they had, there’d be second ones.”

Blaine sighs. As much as he loves Cooper, some things never change, and his big brother’s assumptions about his love life aren’t far off. “If you must know, I haven’t been on any dates at college.”

“How come?” Cooper sees a playground up ahead of them, and drags Blaine in that direction. They are both seated on the cold swings, pumping their legs back and forth, before Blaine answers.

“I’ve been really busy, Coop. There’s a lot to learn, and NYADA is ridiculously competitive.”

Cooper looks at him like he doesn’t really believe him. Blaine hopes NYADA actually improves his acting skills, because he doesn’t really believe himself.

“Your reluctance doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that your old boyfriend is at school with you, does it?”

“No, of course not,” Blaine says, in his best offended little brother voice. This has exactly the same rate of effectiveness as it always has – zero.

“I’m sure Kurt wouldn’t mind if you dated. He’s probably shaking his hips at all the cute gay boys himself.”

“Coop!”

“What?”

Blaine sighs. “Kurt is dating, very happily so. And no, I don’t think he would mind if I was seeing someone.” There’s a lingering hurt as Blaine says this, and Cooper hears it and frowns.

“Oh. Okay. That’s okay.” Cooper leaps off the swing, and nods at Blaine. “Come on, let’s go back and eat dessert. Mom made banana cream pie, and I bet Emily twenty bucks I could eat the whole thing in less than five minutes.”

Blaine slides off his swing and lets Cooper wrap an arm around his shoulder. “That’s disgusting. And you’re ridiculous.” 

“I do my best.”

*****

That night Sam stops by, bringing over one of his mom’s special caramel turtle pies, and demands to be entertained. “I’ve been playing charades with my family for three hours, Blaine. _Three hours._ I can’t watch my father act out one more movie by throwing his hands up in the air and looking scared, then claiming we should have known it was ‘The Shining.’ I just can’t do it.”

Several of their friends have also had enough family time for one day, and after a quick consultation with his mom (who is sacked out on the couch with her Kindle reading god knows what) they send out a group invite to come play video games at Blaine’s house. Artie apparently has a better offer from Tina (and Blaine makes a note to press Tina about this tomorrow) but Ryder and Jake say they’ll come. Kitty, too, which strikes Blaine as odd, until Sam explains that she crashed their game night a few weeks ago and beat them silly. 

Blaine is poking through his kitchen cabinets, trying to figure out if there are any unopened bags of chips, when Sam pokes him on the arm.

“Why don’t you invite Sebastian?”

Blaine turns and raises an eyebrow at Sam, but Sam doesn’t relent.

“What? You like hanging out with him, I could tell last night. And from what he let slip, he’s not having such a great time being home.” Sam shrugs at Blaine. “Come on, live a little. We need even numbers for teams, anyway.”

“Fine.”

Blaine steps into the living room for privacy and pulls out his phone. He did have fun with Sebastian last night, he can’t deny it. Before he can second guess himself (or Sam) he sends a quick text. _Don’t know if you’re still busy with family, but some friends are coming over now to play video games. Want to join?_

Sebastian answers so quickly Blaine barely has time to get nervous. _Sure._ And then a second later, _Coke or Pepsi?_

Blaine doesn’t know quite how to answer, but then there’s another text from Sebastian.

_Unless you’d rather I bring beer?_

He laughs. _Ginger ale for me, actually, but Coke’s good too. But you don’t have to stop anywhere, just come over._

By the time Sebastian arrives, Kitty and Sam are already well on their way to beating Ryder and Jake. Blaine meets Sebastian at the door, and accepts the two-liter bottles of ginger ale and Coke from his friend. He puts them in the refrigerator while Sebastian takes off his coat and leaves his shoes by the front door.

“No socks? What, do you think it’s summertime?” Blaine says, smiling at Sebastian’s bare feet. He’s dressed as casually as Blaine has ever seen him, wearing a navy button down shirt open over a gray t-shirt and soft-looking jeans. He looks great.

“I would think of all people you would appreciate the aesthetic of boat shoes without socks,” Sebastian says, grinning as he follows Blaine upstairs to his room. 

Blaine jogs up the stairs quickly, Sebastian right behind him, and he wonders if Sebastian is going to make a comment about his ass (he’s only wearing his old pair of gray sweatpants and a black sweater – ordinarily not what he’d wear for company, but it’s what he had on when Sam arrived, and Sam would have given him no end of shit if he had revised his outfit after that for Sebastian).

Sebastian doesn’t comment, but he does give Blaine a smirk when he turns around to check. Blaine can’t help but blush. His ass does look great in these pants.

The others welcome Sebastian with various degrees of enthusiasm, Kitty not wanting to take her eyes off the game and snipping at Sam when he gets up to clap Sebastian on the back. Ryder has apparently filled Jake in on the Sebastian situation, as Blaine catches him whispering something to him when they switch off, Blaine and Sebastian coming in to play Kitty and Sam. 

After Kitty’s team wins again, she looks around the room with a sigh. “Do none of you actually play this game? How is it possible that you all suck so bad?”

Blaine gives her a quick kiss on the cheek and heads downstairs to gather up some snacks. By the time he returns, carrying a tray with a bowl of freshly popped popcorn, Sam’s caramel turtle pie, and assorted plates and silverware, Kitty seems to have given up on video games and is quizzing Ryder and Jake about Marley.

“I just don’t get it. If you really think she’s the one for you, Ryder, then do something about it,” he hears Kitty say impatiently.

Blaine is trying to push his bedroom door open a little further with his shoulder without dropping anything.

“There’s no point. She’s not interested. I wasted a year of my life in love with her, but now it’s over. It doesn’t matter whether I still love her or not.” 

“If you love her, then you aren’t wasting your time,” Sebastian says. He looks up as he sees Blaine trying to make it through the door, and steps forward to take the tray from his hands. Sebastian’s expression is odd, and he doesn’t meet Blaine’s eyes, instead busying himself arranging the snacks on Blaine’s desk. 

Blaine realizes he left the soda downstairs, and Sebastian volunteers to go get it. Blaine follows him after a minute – Sebastian won’t know where to find the cups. 

When he gets to the kitchen, Sebastian has the refrigerator door open. He’s staring inside as if the answer to world peace lies next to the leftover turkey and stuffing.

“I’m not, you know,” Blaine says softly. Sebastian turns to him, letting the refrigerator door swing closed.

“Not what?”

“In love with him. With Kurt. I was before, of course. But not anymore. Not for a long time.”

“No?”

“No.”

Sebastian nods, looking carefully at Blaine, and something brightens in his eyes. “Okay, then.” 

Later that night, Blaine walks Kitty to the door. She’s thinking about going to NYU for college next year, and has some questions for Blaine about New York City that she didn’t want to get into with the guys there; she doesn’t think they are much interested in leaving Lima. 

“You’re okay living in the dorms?” she asks.

“Yeah, I am. And you’ll have lots more options than I do if you go to NYU. You aren’t guaranteed your first choice or anything, but you can at least express a preference for which residence hall you want to live in. Some are closer to classes, some have a little more space, some are less expensive, that kind of thing.”

“But Elliott doesn’t live in the dorms.” Kitty has heard all about Elliott, mostly through pictures that Blaine hadn’t been able to resist sending the last time they all went out together. Elliott had been in full Starchild mode that night, and he looked amazing.

“Not anymore, but he did his freshman year. And Trent is there now, I can email them both about you. They’d be happy to talk with you, or show you around if you come visit.”

Kitty looks thoughtful. “Trent is one of your Warbler pals, isn’t he?”

Blaine nods.

“What does he think of you and mister tall-and-gangly?” she inclines her head towards the stairs, clearly meaning Sebastian. 

Kitty’s being genuine, and so Blaine doesn’t insist that there’s nothing going on between them. There’s definitely something, he’s just not sure what it is yet. 

“He doesn’t know. This is all pretty new, whatever it is…” Kitty raises a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him, and Blaine goes on. “I don’t know what Trent would think of us together. The Warblers had a rocky year last year, what with Hunter and the whole steroids debacle, but I think they came together as a group afterwards. Sebastian organized a lot of the charity events they performed at in the spring. Trent respected him for that.”

Kitty spaces off a little as Blaine rambles on about the Warblers, then refocuses when she sees a car pull into the driveway, presumably her mom coming to drive her home.

“You know, despite what I said, it doesn’t really matter, right?” Kitty says as she pulls on her leather jacket, tugging her ponytail out so it doesn’t get caught.

“What doesn’t?”

“What anyone else thinks of you and him.” She reaches up and plants a quick kiss on Blaine’s cheek, her hand on his shoulder. “He looks at you like you’re sweeter than that caramel pie Sam made me eat. And in a nice way, not a creepy way. Don’t worry about it so much. You’re allowed, Blaine. If you like him, then go for it.”

Blaine stands in the doorway until Kitty gets in the car, and lets out a long breath. She’s right that he shouldn’t worry about what other people think. And frankly, so far Sebastian has been remarkably good at playing well with others, at least the others that don’t include Blaine’s ex-boyfriend. And it’s really not fair to judge the poor guy based on whether Kurt would approve or not. More than that, Blaine realizes, it’s not only unfair to Sebastian. It’s also unfair to him. It’s been more than a year since they have been boyfriends. Blaine can’t keep worrying about whether Kurt will approve of his choices. They don’t play that role in each other’s lives any more, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Sam leaves with Ryder and Jake not long afterwards. Sebastian helps Blaine bring all the bowls and used cups downstairs, and Blaine puts the empty soda bottles out in the recycling container in the garage. When he returns, Sebastian is standing awkwardly by the front door, his hands in his pockets. He’s eyeing his shoes, but hasn’t stepped into them yet.

“Want to watch a movie?” Blaine blurts out, aware as the words come out of his mouth that it’s a pretty poor segue, not to mention that it’s almost midnight and definitely past time to begin a new activity. He’s glad his mom has already gone to bed, he can just imagine her laughing out loud if she overheard.

But Sebastian doesn’t call him on it, just nods and follows him back up to his room.

They make themselves comfortable on Blaine’s bed, leaning up against the headboard with the laptop inbetween them down by their knees. Neither of them have seen one of the dramas that is rumored to be this year’s Oscar frontrunner, so they cue it up and let the scenes unfold in front of them. Blaine isn’t paying much attention, but it’s comfortable sitting here with Sebastian. He feels his eyes on him from time to time, and once he catches Sebastian looking at him; Sebastian just smiles and looks away.

“So, um, Saturday.”

Blaine blinks a few times, focusing on the fact that Sebastian has actually said something. He doesn’t think he fell asleep, but he’s not actually sure.

“Saturday?”

“Yeah, I, um,” Sebastian takes one of the pillows from beside him and squishes it between his hands. “I started to ask you the other day if you were free on Saturday, but we were interrupted.”

“Oh, right. By Sam and Ryder and their incredibly secret spy mission.”

“Um-hm.” Sebastian grins. “They were very sneaky, weren’t they?”

Blaine smiles. He loves that Sam is so protective of him. He thinks Sam is probably the person he misses most, now that he’s away at school in New York. 

“Uh, Blaine?”

Blaine starts, and looks at Sebastian, embarrassed. “I’m so sorry, I spaced off. I think I’m half asleep.”

“Okay, no problem. I should probably go anyway.” Sebastian looks disappointed, and Blaine feels a pang of regret.

“No, wait,” Blaine grabs Sebastian’s wrist. “I’m free Saturday.” Probably, anyway – at least, he knows there’s nothing he can’t miss. His mom will understand if he skips whatever errands she has planned. “What’s on Saturday?” 

Sebastian settles back on the bed, crossing his legs. “A wedding. My mom’s getting remarried. And if you could come with me – as a friend, you know – it would be a lot less horrible. For me, anyway.” Sebastian huffs out an awkward laugh.

Blaine remembers Whitman’s comment on the airplane about Sebastian not having an appropriate “plus one.” His heart goes out to Sebastian, knowing what it must have taken for him to ask Blaine to accompany him, even ‘as a friend.’ He’s not likely to get many brownie points from Whitman for it, and who knows how his other relatives will react.

“No, I can’t,” Blaine says softly, watching Sebastian’s face.

“I figured. That’s fine, it’s going to suck anyway-”

“I can’t go as your friend. But I’ll go as your date.”

The effect on Sebastian is instantaneous – he sits up straighter and beams. “You will?”

“I will.”

“Like a date-date?”

“Like a date-date. Now, tell me all about this wedding. I need to be prepared.” Blaine smiles, and Sebastian flops down on his back, gesturing with his hands as he starts to explain some of the intricacies of his family dynamics.

“My parents split up years ago, you know that part. My mom lived in Paris for a while-”

“Hence the Courvoisier in your coffee habit,” Blaine comments mildly.

“Oh, god, you would remember that,” Sebastian covers his face with his hands. “I was such an ass.”

“You’re forgiven. Go on.”

“Well, mom came back from Paris to be a curator at a museum in Columbus, and she had a fling with the head of the museum… one thing led to another, and she stuck with him. Now it looks like Whitman’s going to get engaged, and she doesn’t want to be ‘living in sin’ with Jeremy when her son’s wedding comes around, so she decided it was time to make it official. She sprung this on us last month – I wouldn’t have bothered coming home for Thanksgiving otherwise.”

“Well, then, I think I owe your mom a thank you.”

Sebastian looks stunned – he clearly didn’t realize he was walking into the compliment, and his cheeks color ever so slightly. It’s adorable. “I guess I do, too.”

There’s a somewhat awkward silence, and Blaine’s eyes can’t help drifting to the clock. It’s almost 2 a.m. 

“I guess I really should go home now, huh?” Sebastian asks, sitting up and sliding off the bed. He looks a lot less unhappy about it than he did earlier, though.

“You probably should.”

Blaine walks Sebastian downstairs, watching his eyes run over the family photos on the wall in the hallway. 

“You were a ridiculously cute kid,” Sebastian says, pausing in front of a picture of Blaine, about five or six years old, sitting at the piano, a look of concentration on his face. There’s another one next to it with Blaine’s parents hugging Cooper, who’s holding a wriggly toddler with wild dark curls. “And everyone looks so happy.”

“We were, mostly. Are.” It’s true; even with his parents’ divorce, they all seem to be doing okay. Blaine is going over to his dad’s house for lunch tomorrow. The divorce wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, but he knows his dad cares about him, and is trying to stay connected, despite Blaine having moved away for school.

They reach the front door and Sebastian slides on his shoes. Blaine hands him his coat. “Ever see Cooper?”

“He was here today, actually. Just a quick trip – he’s already headed back to L.A.” Again, Blaine cringes when he compares Cooper to Whitman. He’ll take misguided acting advice over homophobic slurs any day.

Sebastian wraps a red and blue scarf around his neck – Blaine wonders if it’s an official Dalton one – and pauses with his hand on the doorknob. “I’ll, um, text you about Saturday?”

Blaine nods. “Sounds good.”

Sebastian tugs the door open, but then turns back to Blaine. “I’m really looking forward to it.” He holds Blaine’s eyes for a moment, during which Blaine is sure he can hear his heart pounding, and then leans in and gives Blaine a chaste but deliberate kiss on the cheek. It’s about a million miles away from the one Kitty planted on him earlier, and Blaine knows he’s blushing as Sebastian steps away and out into the night. 

Definitely not his usual video game night with Sam, that’s for sure.

*****  
Friday morning Blaine spends a few hours messing with his mother’s computer – Pam is not particularly tech savvy, and generally relies on him to keep it in shape. He installs an update to a virus program, and helps her sort through some of her photo directories. She’s also interested in blogging about beauty products, and they poke around on some similar blogs to see what’s out there and where she might develop a niche.

It’s chilly but sunny when Blaine heads out for lunch. His dad had texted him earlier to ask that they meet at a restaurant instead of at his house, which is fine with Blaine, especially since his dad suggested a new wings place that Blaine hasn’t been to yet. It’s just a chain, and it’s still in Lima, but hey, who doesn’t like wings?

The restaurant is crowded, probably because it’s the new thing in town – or it might also be because of the sports bar vibe and the fact that everyone in the state is done with turkey – but Blaine’s dad is already there, having nabbed a small booth in the back. Paul stands up and hugs Blaine when he reaches the table, and then they both sit down.

“You look good,” Paul says, pretending to examine Blaine from all angles. “College clearly works for you.”

“Well, I’ve managed to avoid the freshman fifteen,” Blaine says, grinning. “Although this place clearly isn’t going to help.”

“Not everything they sell here is unhealthy,” Paul says, paging through the menu. “Look, there are some salads.”

“Like I’d come here and get a salad.” Blaine turns the page. “Although there’s a salad with barbeque chicken; that might be a reasonable compromise.”

In the end, though, Blaine’s curiosity wins out, and they wind up ordering a giant platter of wings with a variety of different seasonings and sauces. Blaine fills his dad in on more details about his classes at NYADA, and they talk for a while about whether Blaine needs to get a part-time job.

“I don’t want you over extending yourself, Blaine,” his father insists, not for the first time. “You don’t need the money right now. What you need is to focus on your classwork, and on taking care of yourself. It can’t be easy being on your own in the big city.”

Blaine studies his dad’s face, wondering if there is something underlying his words that he isn’t aware of. “I’m not on my own. I’ve got Kurt and Rachel.”

His father frowns. “Do you see much of Kurt?”

His parents know why they broke up, and how much Blaine had wanted, last year, for them to get back together. But Blaine has assured them numerous times that such an outcome is no longer on the table.

“I don’t have any classes with him. But I see him around. It’s fine. We have a lot of friends in common, at NYADA and other schools.” Blaine shrugs. “We go out in groups sometimes, but we’re not getting back together.”

Paul tilts his head. “Do you regret going to NYADA?”

“Because Kurt is there? No way. I love it there.” It’s true, he does. “Besides, I’m meeting lots of new people.” He makes a point of describing some of the kids in the dorm that he is beginning to feel more comfortable with, and the girl in his Shakespeare class that can make him laugh with just a flicker of an eyebrow. 

Blaine knows his parents are worried, but he really is okay. Sure, when he applied to NYADA he definitely hoped that things between him and Kurt would have turned out better than they did, but he wasn’t going to let their past relationship impede his future plans. And Kurt wouldn’t want that, either. Although he suspected that Kurt was just as relieved as he was that they didn’t have any classes together, and they didn’t even audition for any of the same shows this year (Blaine is in the freshman musical, while Kurt has a role in the contemporary drama production). 

Their food arrives and they both dig in, Blaine immediately asking for some extra napkins. The wings are delicious but messy, and he pauses a minute to strip off his sweater. It’s one of his favorites, a thick gray heather with a shawl collar, and the relatively boring button down he’s got underneath will be much easier to clean if he drips sauce on it.

Paul is apparently amused at Blaine’s enthusiasm. “So, was this place a good choice?”

Blaine grins. “I’m suffering through it, I guess.” He dips a piece of celery in the blue cheese sauce and takes a bite. “Guess you were tired of turkey?”

Paul shakes his head. “I know you were expecting leftovers, but in the end I didn’t even make turkey.” 

It occurs to Blaine that he knows nothing at all about his father’s Thanksgiving plans, except that he didn’t come over to his aunt’s house. “Dad, what did you do yesterday? Did you even go anywhere?”

“Hey, relax. It was fine.”

“Dad…”

“I watched a lot of football. It was a good day.”

“Next year you’re coming to Aunt Susan’s with us.”

“We’ll see. We’ll worry about that next year.”

So maybe not everyone in his family is doing as well as Blaine had thought.

*****

That night a group of former and current New Directions go bumper bowling and then out to Breadstix for dessert. Blaine’s still feeling stuffed from lunch, so he just orders a diet soda and sneaks spoonfuls of Tina’s tiramisu when she’s too busy talking to protest.

“Hey, get your own,” she finally says, threatening to poke his hand with her fork. She’s squished in between Blaine and Sam on one side of the booth, with Kitty, Jake and Ryder on the other.

“Tina…” Blaine coos, blinking his eyes at her. “Would you really deprive me of one little bite?”

“You’ve had a lot more than just one bite,” she responds, but softens instinctively when she looks at his face. “Okay, fine, have as much as you want. Better it ends up on your ass than my hips.”

“Tina,” Kitty groans. “Could you possibly make it through one day without mentioning Blaine’s ass?”

“I don’t know, no one told him to wear such tight pants to go bowling. It’s not my fault I have eyes.”

Blaine squirms. His red pants are rather tight, but the color is just right and he adores them. Apparently, so does Tina. Time to change the subject.

“So, Tina, did you have a good time with Artie last night?”

Tina beams. “Yes, and…” she looks around the restaurant, as if checking to see if he had shown up unexpectedly, “I think we’re dating again.”

“Really?” Sam asks. “Artie told me he wanted to ‘score as many chicks as possible’ in film school this year, just kind of as an experiment.”

Tina looks at Sam in shock, and he just waves his hands in apology. “Don’t kick the delivery boy, it’s not my fault he wants to play the field.”

“Don’t shoot the messenger,” Blaine corrects Sam, unable to help himself.

“I don’t believe you,” Tina says. “I’ll ask him myself.”

“Sure you will,” Kitty says. “On your next date, right? When is that, exactly?”

Tina frowns. “We haven’t planned another date, but that doesn’t mean anything. I just saw him last night!” Her voice is sliding upwards, and Blaine resists the urge to cover his ears.

“Face it, Tina, it’s just a holiday hookup,” Kitty says. The group looks at her blankly. “You know, there’s all the emotion, everyone going away, coming back home for a few days, then fleeing right back to school. You know what you’re getting into; it’s nice and familiar. All the fun, none of the commitment.”

“How the hell do you know anything about holiday hookups?” Jake asks.

“My brother,” Kitty replies. “He and his high school girlfriend got together every Thanksgiving for three years. It happened so often that my grandma was surprised when he finally brought another girl home. She thought they had been together all that time.”

Driving home from Breadstix that night, Blaine can’t help but wonder whether this explains what’s going on with him and Sebastian. Is it just a “holiday hookup,” born of relief and familiarity? He doesn’t think so; Sebastian doesn’t exactly represent safety for him. He’s not comfort food, Blaine thinks, he’s more like that five pepper spicy dish at the Thai restaurant you always figured was too deadly to even contemplate. Except that lately, Sebastian doesn’t seem so dangerous at all.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Blaine takes his time getting ready for the wedding. He doesn’t have many choices as far as suits, since he didn’t exactly expect to need formal wear on his holiday break. He tries on the slim fitting navy tux that he wore to prom, and notes with relief that it still fits perfectly. It’s a little on the tame side as far as clothing choices go, but for an event with Sebastian’s family it is probably just right.

Still, he hesitates. Finally deciding that more information is better than less, he texts Sebastian. _Just so I don’t show up wearing flip flops to the dance, what’s the dress code?_

Sebastian replies almost immediately. _As if you even own a pair of flip flops. It’s formal – black tie optional._

Blaine chuckles. _Dress to impress, or to placate?_ Because if need be, he’s sure he could find something a little more flashy in his closet. He has a somewhat ridiculous canary yellow tux he bought last year and never really had a chance to wear.

_You always impress me._

Blaine’s throat goes dry. Well, then. 

In the end, he goes with the navy tux and a black bowtie. It’s slightly fashion forward, but not enough to draw negative attention, at least not if anyone there has any taste. 

The plan is for Blaine to meet Sebastian at his hotel near the wedding site in Columbus. Sebastian had been there since the night before to attend the bachelor party, which in this case was a small gathering at the art museum where his mother’s fiancé worked. From the texts Sebastian sent throughout the evening, Blaine probably would have enjoyed it – they had a docent there to give a talk on one of the current exhibits, followed by a wine and cheese spread and music from a string quartet. Sebastian had invited him, but Blaine had already made plans with Sam, Tina, and the others for bowling and Breadstix. 

When Blaine pulls into the parking lot he texts Sebastian to let him know he’s there, and his phone quickly rings.

“Do you mind meeting me at my room? I’m not ready.”

The lobby is elegant and smells like the overflowing bouquets of fresh flowers that decorate the space. Blaine makes his way through the mingling, well dressed crowd to the elevators and soon is knocking on Sebastian’s hotel room door. 

Sebastian opens the door and lets out a low whistle when he sees Blaine. “You look great, killer.” The old nickname slips out, and Sebastian’s eyes widen for a moment, but Blaine just laughs and steps into the room. He kind of likes the name.

“You, on the other hand, seem to be missing some critical pieces of your wardrobe.” 

Sebastian is wearing a white dress shirt, hanging open over an undershirt, and his suit pants, but that’s it.

“My suit was wrinkled – even though it came straight from the dry cleaner. So I hung it in the shower to straighten out.”

Blaine can see the bathroom from where they are standing, but he doesn’t hear the water running. “You’re steaming it, right?”

Sebastian gives him a blank look. 

“To get the wrinkles out?” Blaine walks over the bathroom. As predicted, the shower isn’t running. He picks up the suit hanging near the shower door, and lays it on the bed. “You need to have the water on hot, so that the room steams up. Otherwise nothing happens. But it doesn’t look too bad – we can just iron it.”

“I obviously thought of that, but I didn’t bring an iron with me,” Sebastian says, pouting just a little.

“Check that closet, maybe the top shelf?”

Sebastian grumbles, but it turns out that the hotel has in fact provided an iron, tucked in next to the spare blanket and pillow in the hall closet. Blaine makes quick work of getting the jacket in shape, and when Sebastian is finally dressed, he smiles and pronounces him ready to go.

“You must think I’m an idiot,” Sebastian says, buttoning the jacket and retrieving his wallet and keys from the dresser.

“Nah. Maybe a little preoccupied,” Blaine says gently. 

Sebastian stops at the door, gazes at Blaine thoughtfully. “You’re too nice. I shouldn’t be dragging you into this.”

“Sebastian, it’s a fancy wedding at one of Columbus’ most elegant locations. I think I’ll survive.”

Sebastian nods, accepting this. “Okay, well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

They arrive with plenty of time to spare. Sebastian parks the car at the far end of the lot but doesn’t get out. They watch out the window as other cars drive by and guests head towards the glass building which is the conservatory and botanical gardens’ signature image. 

“My uncle got married here,” Blaine observes, breaking the silence. “But it was in the summer. The whole thing was outside. Cooper got stung by a bee - it was very dramatic.”

Sebastian doesn’t respond. 

“Come on, it can’t be that bad. There will be food, right?”

“’Course there will be food.”

“Then think of it as a pleasant meal with mediocre company. Except for me, of course.”

The corner of Sebastian’s mouth tugs up in a smile, and he turns to Blaine. “You are far from mediocre.”

“Precisely. But I am hungry. So let’s go.”

It’s nowhere near as bad as it could be. As soon as they enter the building, Sebastian is whisked off to stand with his mother and brother at the front of the room, as they are already getting ready for the ceremony. Blaine takes a seat near the back. Much to his relief (and Sebastian’s, probably, too) the ceremony is short, and before long Sebastian is at his side, escorting him into the reception area.

“I’ll introduce you to my mom and Jeremy when the crowd dies down,” Sebastian says, as they watch the crowd of people lining up to talk to the new couple. They are just heading over to the array of hors d’oeuvres when Whitman catches up to them.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he says in an amused drawl. “Blaine, right? The Dalton boy?”

Blaine is no more interested in arguing about his Dalton years now than he was on the plane, and he simply nods and shakes Whitman’s hand. “Nice to see you again,” Blaine says politely. He is about to comment on the lovely setting, but Whitman has already turned his attention back to Sebastian.

“Well, Sebastian, you made your bed,” Whit says nastily to his brother. “Have fun lying in it,” he says, and walks away.

“So, I hope we’re not seated at his table,” Blaine observes, and Sebastian snorts. 

“My mom didn’t want assigned tables, so no, we’re not. And if Whit had his way, we wouldn’t be here at all.”

“What’s he so afraid of?”

Sebastian shrugs. “Don’t know, really. Most of the people here are mom and Jeremy’s friends, museum people, artists. They aren’t going to be that impressed by Whit anyway.”

“And they aren’t likely to care that we’re together, either,” Blaine says, catching Sebastian’s eye. “I know the night is young, but this doesn’t actually seem to be an unfriendly crowd.” He nods his head towards two men in their thirties who are walking together towards the bar, one resting his hand on the small of the other’s back. 

“I know. That’s what my mom said, in fact, when I asked her if I could bring you. It’s just…” Sebastian sighs. “Whit manages to get under my skin, no matter what the situation. It’s tiring.”

“I can definitely relate to that.” Once again, Blaine finds himself comparing Whitman to Cooper, and Cooper once more coming out on top. He’s going to have to call Cooper and say something nice to him – Cooper may be obnoxious and a bit self-obsessed, but Blaine has never really doubted that Cooper loves him.

They mingle for a little while, nabbing appetizers as waiters pass by with overflowing trays of treats, and make their way over towards the receiving line. Sebastian’s mom is almost as tall as he is, and looks lovely in a flowing off-white dress.

“Hello, Blaine, I’m Nora,” she says, pulling him in for a cheek kiss Blaine did not expect. “So very nice to finally meet you.”

“Finally meet me?” Blaine asks as Sebastian leads him away.

Sebastian presses his lips together. “I may have mentioned your name once or twice.”

Blaine sees the slightly embarrassed look on Sebastian’s face, and grins. He can’t help feeling pleased that Sebastian has been thinking about him – talking about him to his mother. He’s not really sure where this has come from all of a sudden; it’s not as if he’s spent any time pining after Sebastian. But he can’t argue that it feels good.

The bandleader announces the new couple’s first dance, and Blaine takes Sebastian by the arm and walks him over to a spot where they can watch. “Your mom looks happy,” he says.

“I think she really is.” Sebastian chuckles as some of Jeremy’s friends come out to join them on the dance floor, grabbing the couple and twirling them around with more enthusiasm than skill. “I’m glad she has somebody.” There’s a flicker of sadness on Sebastian’s face.

“Come on, let’s dance,” Blaine says.

Sebastian gives him a surprised look, then shakes his head and follows Blaine to the dance floor. “Should have known you’d be that kind of date,” he says, as they proceed to shimmy along to an eighties’ tune.

“What? I know you like to dance.”

Sebastian looks around them. More people have joined in, mostly couples but a few groups as well, everyone smiling and having a good time. His expression softens. “I do. I just never really imagined I’d be dancing with you again.”

Blaine files this away, adding it to the pile of surprises that Sebastian has been throwing his way over the past few days. 

The music slows down. “Want to get a drink?” Sebastian asks.

Blaine would have been happy to keep on dancing, but he thinks maybe Sebastian isn’t ready to slow dance with him in front of Whitman. Which he completely understands.

They each get a glass of champagne and stand off to the side, quietly people watching. 

Blaine glances at Sebastian’s face. He seems relaxed enough, although with Sebastian it often seems that there’s a current of something else just under the surface. Blaine isn’t sure if this is the right time to get serious, but he has never been very good at keeping quiet once he has something on his mind.

“Sebastian, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“This week… you seem…” The word Blaine wants to say is ‘timid,’ but he thinks Sebastian would probably take that as an insult, and he doesn’t want that. “I don’t know, different?”

Sebastian turns to Blaine, holding his gaze steadily, then takes his hand. “Come outside with me for a minute?”

There’s a patio behind where the bar is set up, tall glass doors opening out onto a carefully landscaped area which looks out into the gardens. It might be even more impressive if it wasn’t wintertime, but it’s nice enough for a quick escape, even in November.

They move away from the doors, and Sebastian leans against the stone wall separating the area from the garden. He’s fidgety. “Everything okay?” Blaine asks, as they stand together in the cold. 

“Yeah, it’s not a big deal,” Sebastian begins, but then snaps his eyes to Blaine’s and corrects himself. “That’s not true, it is kind of a big deal.”

“Go ahead,” Blaine says, touching the sleeve of Sebastian’s jacket. “You can tell me.”

Sebastian lets out a long breath. “I wasn’t looking forward to this week, especially spending time with Whitman. He’s kind of an ass, as you experienced for yourself.”

Blaine nods. This is true.

“I was fully prepared to just shut him out, shut everybody out. I had my speeches all prepared, something to say about how classes are going, what opportunities I was taking advantage of, how I had already made important connections at Columbia. I’d spend a few days holed up in my room, see as little of my family as possible, get through this wedding without pissing anyone off, and then high tail it back to the city.”

Sebastian bites his lip, looks down at the ground, and then back at Blaine. “But then you showed up on the plane. What are the odds that you’d be in the seat next to mine? And even though you were clearly exhausted as hell, you smiled your ridiculous smile at me. You looked right at me. You saw what was going on, what a jerk Whitman is. And when you leaned on me, when you took my hand…” Sebastian’s voice is tight, and Blaine thinks that he’s never seen Sebastian even close to tears before. It’s astonishing.

Sebastian shakes his head, tries to finish his sentence, and then swallows hard before continuing. “That’s why I’m different this week.”

Blaine steps forward and, without giving either of them time to change their minds, pulls Sebastian into a gentle hug. He holds him while Sebastian struggles to catch his breath, and rubs his hand in circles on his back. 

Sebastian separates them a moment later, wiping at his eyes. “Did I ruin my mascara?” he asks jokingly. He looks around the patio – there are a few other guests getting some fresh air or having a cigarette, but no one is paying them any attention.

“I think you’ll be okay.” 

Sebastian takes a few more deep breathes, then threads his arm through Blaine’s and leads them both back into the fray. “Thanks to you,” he whispers, so softly Blaine isn’t sure he was meant to hear it at all.

There’s lots more champagne, and lots more dancing. They dance in groups, come back to each other, and then separate again. Sebastian is dancing with one of his cousins, tie undone and limbs loose, when his mom comes up to Blaine.

“I can’t seem to get my son to dance with me,” she says, smiling broadly. “But I doubt you’ll refuse me.”

“Certainly not,” Blaine says, taking her hand and resting his other on her waist. “It’s a pleasure.”

“Such a sweet talker,” Nora says. “So tell me about yourself. Sebastian isn’t very good at conveying actual information, even if he does succeed in getting the gist across.”

Blaine doesn’t let himself linger on what the “gist” concerning himself might be, and proceeds to tell Nora about his classes at NYADA.

Nora nods. “You’re so lucky to be in New York. It’s one of my favorite cities. And you two can see each other whenever you want to.”

This is a thought that has been occurring to Blaine frequently over the past few days, first in a defensive response to the “holiday hookup” comment from Kitty (it can’t be just a holiday hookup if they are both going back to the same place after the holiday, right?) and then with a more hopeful turn of mind. He spots Sebastian watching him dance, and giggles to himself when Sebastian shows off, spinning his partner and dipping her into a deep bow. The fact that the little girl can’t be more than six or seven definitely enhances the performance.

“So, what do you think?”

Blaine blinks at her, and Nora just laughs. “You didn’t hear a word of that, did you?”

“I’m so sorry-”

“No, no, don’t apologize. I get it.” She glances over towards Sebastian. “He can be distracting, I’m sure.”

Blaine hopes he isn’t blushing as red as he fears he might be, and pretends that Sebastian’s mom isn’t implying anything untoward at all.

“Anyway, what I was asking was whether you would sing something for us. If you’re going to be as famous as Sebastian thinks you will someday, I’d like to say I knew you when.”

Relieved at least with the change of topic, Blaine agrees before he thinks it through. Before he can change his mind, Nora is escorting him over to the band.

It’s not exactly a showtunes kind of evening, and Blaine stumbles over his words when the bandleader asks him what he wants to sing. The guitarist shows him their playlist, and Blaine quickly scans it. He smiles when he sees a Peter Gabriel song that seems both appropriate for a wedding and his current mood as well.

Blaine sees Sebastian’s head snap up when the bandleader announces him, and he takes in a deep breath as the music begins. 

It’s easy, singing these words, to imagine that there might be something real developing between himself and Sebastian. He lets himself feel it, sinks into the music and lets the feeling flow through him, and out to his audience. It’s what he does best.

_Love I get so lost, sometimes_  
_Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart_  
_When I want to run away_  
_I drive off in my car_  
_But whichever way I go_  
_I come back to the place you are_

Blaine makes sure to spend most of the song directing his gaze towards Nora and Jeremy, who are now dancing together, looking completely and utterly in love. But he also glances towards Sebastian, who has planted himself off to the side of the dance floor, champagne glass in hand, watching Blaine steadily.

_In your eyes_  
_The light the heat_  
_In your eyes_  
_I am complete_  
_In your eyes_  
_I see the doorway to a thousand churches_  
_In your eyes_  
_The resolution of all the fruitless searches_  
_In your eyes_  
_I see the light and the heat_  
_In your eyes_  
_Oh, I want to be that complete_  
_I want to touch the light_  
_The heat I see in your eyes._

When Blaine finishes the song, the crowd claps enthusiastically, and Blaine takes a quick bow. He makes his way over to Sebastian, who is looking at him curiously.

“Nice performance,” he says. “Interesting song choice.” 

“Thank you.” Blaine looks into Sebastian’s green eyes, boldly holding his gaze until Sebastian glances away, ducking his head down. “What do you say we find some more of that champagne?”

*****  
By the time the party winds down, Blaine is firmly regretting his last glass of champagne. His last three glasses. All of it, actually.

He’s not even drunk so much as in mind-crushing pain. It’s probably a migraine, he thinks, as his head screams at him when the lights brighten in the reception area, signaling that it’s time for the guests to go home.

Sebastian drives him back to his hotel, where Blaine is parked. When they pull into the parking lot, Blaine doesn’t move, dreading how it is going to feel when he opens his eyes.

“Want to come inside, take some Advil?” Sebastian asks quietly. 

Blaine nods, then flinches as this just increases the pressure in his head. Sebastian comes around and opens his door, reaches in and takes Blaine’s arm.

“Keep your eyes closed, if you want,” he says. “I won’t let you walk into any walls.”

“Much appreciated,” Blaine mutters, but after a few attempts at opening his eyes he decides to take Sebastian’s advice. He keeps his arm wrapped around Sebastian’s, tries to match his steps to Sebastian’s longer strides. He stumbles but Sebastian is right there, an arm around his waist holding him up.

Blaine loses track of time and before he knows it he is sitting on the bed in what is presumably Sebastian’s room. 

“Stay right here,” Sebastian says softly, and Blaine feels the loss of his touch as a different kind of pain.

He’s back quickly, however, and the bed dips as he sits down next to Blaine. “I’ve got a glass of water and some medicine. Do you think you can stomach them?”

Oh. This hadn’t occurred to Blaine, but now that his attention is drawn to it, his anvil crushing headache has in fact come with a side of nausea. “I’ll try.”

He opens his eyes slowly, and finds that except for a dull glow from the bathroom, all the lights in the room are off. Thank god, he thinks, taking the glass from Sebastian and carefully swallowing the pills down. So far, so good.

“Blaine?”

“Hm?”

“You really can’t drive home.”

Blaine squeezes his eyes shut. Maybe in a few minutes the pills will kick in, and he’ll be okay?

“I can drive you. Just let me get changed.”

Sebastian is up off the bed and moving away before Blaine can protest. He hangs his head, presses his fists against his eyes. The thought of getting into the car again makes his stomach twist uncomfortably. He waits a moment, thinks about it, and gets no closer to a better solution.

“Seb?” His own voice hurts his ears, but Sebastian is back by his side instantly.

“What is it? You okay?”

He starts to shake his head, then freezes. Mistake. “I can’t…”

There’s a pause, and Blaine searches for the right words to use, but Sebastian beats him to it.

“Stay here, then.” Sebastian must sense his discomfort. “It’s a perfectly nice hotel room, with two perfectly nice beds. I promise I won’t ravish you in your sleep. You’re not flying back until Monday, right?”

“Right.” Blaine huffs out an echo of a laugh, and lies down gratefully. “I owe you one.”

“Nah. You talked to Whitman about football for at least ten minutes. I’m the one who owes you.”

Blaine relaxes into the pillows, but something is still niggling at his brain. “Shit, my mom…”

“I’ll text her. Where’s your phone? Does she even text? I know that’s like, a big deal to parents these days. My mom thinks it’s so cutting edge.” Sebastian is talking so quietly and calmly. It’s almost soothing.

“Yeah, you can text her.”

The bed dips again, and Blaine feels the warmth of Sebastian’s body against his hip. He hears the click-click of Sebastian typing into his phone, and then even that noise stops, just the barely there sound of Sebastian’s fingers touching the screen.

“Wow, she’s quick.”

“Hm?”

“I told her you had a bad headache and were going to sleep over here, and she suggested turning off the lights and using a cold compress.” He pauses. “She says she gets bad headaches all the time.” Another pause. “Awwww….”

“Sebastian? Blaine turns and props himself on an elbow, letting one eye creep open. “Did you tell her it was you texting?”

Sebastian laughs softly. “Guess I didn’t, ‘sweet pea.’” 

Blaine flops down on his back. It could be worse. His mom also calls him “honey-bear” from time to time. And, for some indecipherable reason, sugarplum. “When I feel better, I’m going to kill you.”

Sebastian sets the phone down. “About that. Feel up to changing your clothes? ‘Cause I could help you, but…”

Blaine looks at Sebastian, and can’t help smiling at him. “I think I could manage. If I had any to change into.”

“You can wear mine.”

“You’re wearing yours.” Sebastian is clad in red sweatpants and a white t-shirt, probably the same one he had on under his dress shirt.

“No, killer, these aren’t pajamas. These are sweatpants. And to think I’m not even the fashion expert.”

There’s an uncomfortable pause, and Blaine opens his eyes, finds Sebastian looking at him uncertainly. “Bet you’re wishing you hadn’t said that, huh?” He lets as much warmth as he can creep into his voice. Neither one of them want to be talking about Kurt right now.

“Yeah. Well, it’s not the first time I’ve said something stupid.”

Sebastian zips open his suitcase, propped on a stand across the room, and Blaine winces at the sound. He rummages around for a moment and comes back to Blaine with a pile of clothes in his hands. 

“Here. I’ll be in the bathroom for a few minutes. Take your time.” 

Blaine gingerly pushes himself to a seated position. His head throbs when he moves, but he really doesn’t want to sleep in his suit. Although now that he notices it, his suit jacket is already off, draped over the desk chair in the corner, and his shoes are arranged neatly underneath. He doesn’t even remember taking them off. 

Blaine slides his feet over the edge of the bed and stands up shakily, stripping off his clothes as fast as he can. Might as well get it over with. Sebastian has left him a soft, thin gray sweatshirt with “Universite – Paris – Sorbonne” in faded writing on the chest, and striped sleep pants. They’re clearly too long on him, but since he plans to be horizontal, it shouldn’t be a problem.

He groans as he eases himself back down on the bed. 

“Are you decent?” Sebastian whispers as he returns. He sits down next to Blaine again, making him move and shift until the blankets are pulled up over him. “Want to try this?”

Blaine tries to focus on what he’s holding, to no avail, so he just lets his eyes drift closed again. He feels a cool, wet weight on his eyes – apparently the cold compress his mom recommended. 

“Does it help?”

It does, a little. Blaine nods carefully. Sebastian doesn’t say anything else, but he’s still sitting there next to Blaine, warm and solid. Blaine reaches out a hand, palm up, and Sebastian takes it. 

“Thank you.”

He can feel Sebastian’s shrug down through his arm. “It’s no big deal.”

Blaine tries to sleep, but the waves of pain shooting through his head won’t let him slip off. After a while, Sebastian takes the washcloth off his face and starts to get up. Blaine instinctively tightens his hold on his hand.

“Hey,” Sebastian says softly. “You should be asleep.”

Blaine presses his lips together. It just hurts so much, and he doesn’t know what to say.

“I could, um, I could try something else.”

Blaine doesn’t respond. Sebastian’s voice is so concerned, but Blaine just feels like he might cry, and that is definitely not what he had planned for tonight.

“I’ll be right back.” Sebastian slides off the bed, but soon Blaine feels him climbing up on the other side and settling up near his head. Blaine cracks an eye open and sees him sitting cross-legged, his back against the headboard, and a pillow on his lap.

“I could rub your head,” Sebastian says shyly. “It might actually help. It does, sometimes.”

Blaine isn’t going to question how Sebastian knows this. Right now he’s pretty much willing to try anything. He raises himself up on his elbows and shifts until he can lie back with his head on Sebastian’s lap. He risks a quick glance up at Sebastian, the view unusual from this angle, and gives him a quick smile. “Do your worst.”

“I should hope not,” Sebastian says, more confident now, although still speaking softly. He starts out by laying his hands on Blaine’s shoulders, gently, then moving them up and down his arms. It should be soothing, but his head hurts so much it is hard to enjoy it. Blaine takes a few deep breaths and tries to relax.

Then Sebastian lets his hands slide up and starts firmly massaging his neck, below and behind his ears. Blaine lets out a long, low, moan. He can feel his body tensing and then releasing, the pain from his headache now being pushed and pulled and drawn out of his body as if Sebastian’s hands were magic.

“This okay?” Sebastian asks softly, and Blaine is quick to respond. 

“Oh my god, yes. Keep going.” He has no shame now, not when this feels so good.

Sebastian spends a long time on his neck, moving his hands forward under his jaw, back towards his ears, and then around towards the front again. Then he slides his hands up, works his thumbs into Blaine’s temples, with his fingertips on his forehead. 

“That’s good too,” Blaine whispers.

He loses track of time as Sebastian continues his work, seeming to find every painful spot lurking behind his eyes and coax it into submission. At some point Blaine realizes that his head isn’t throbbing so insistently, and sends up a silent thank you to the universe for the surprise that is Sebastian Smythe.

Finally Sebastian slows his hands, moves them back down to Blaine's shoulders and gives them a gentle squeeze. Blaine lets his head tilt to the side and rests his cheek against the back of Sebastian's hand.

"What do you think?" Sebastian asks softly. "Relaxed enough to sleep now?"

Blaine barely hears his words. He feels as calm and floaty as a puffy cloud pushed along by a summer breeze. A cloud with a lingering but much more endurable headache, anyway.

"Mmm, yeah," he breathes out, opening his eyes and looking up at Sebastian. It's a funny angle, the bottom of his chin the closest thing to his face. Blaine reminds himself that he is actually capable of more movement than an infant, and shuffles his head off Sebastian's lap and on to the bed beside him.

Sebastian slides down until he's lying next to him, on his side with one long arm shoved up under his pillow and the other curled close to his chest. Blaine can't quite make out his expression in the dim light, but he knows there's a hesitance there. At this point Blaine doesn’t have any desire for Sebastian to sleep in the other bed – it’s too nice having him right here – but maybe that’s what he’s worried about.

Blaine tugs the thin hotel blanket up until it is covering them both, then reaches out and takes Sebastian's hand. They don't quite fit perfectly together, not with how they are lying. But Blaine curls his fingers over Sebastian's as best he can, and he's pretty sure he sees Sebastian smile as he settles a little more into the pillows.

"Thank you," Blaine says. “For taking care of me.” He’s not used to this, and certainly never expected it from Sebastian. Although given Sebastian’s behavior lately, maybe he should have.

"It was my pleasure," Sebastian replies. He isn't insinuating anything, or making a sexually charged comment. He's being sincere.

Blaine knows he'll be asleep the minute he closes his eyes, but he's not quite ready. Whatever this is between them is far more interesting than any dream will be, so he keeps his eyes open, and lets the moment expand.

"Thank you for being my date tonight," Sebastian says, after a few more moments of quiet. He moves a tiny bit closer to Blaine on the bed, bringing their clasped hands up against his chest. Blaine can feel the warmth of his body through his t-shirt. 

"It was my pleasure," Blaine echoes. He can feel his eyelids drooping, and knows he's about to doze off, regardless of his intentions. "Good night, Sebastian."

"Good night, sweet pea." 

"I'm gonna strangle you," Blaine mumbles. Sebastian and his mom, both. His eyes slip closed, and he feels a barely there kiss on his forehead. 

"There's my killer."

"Be quiet and go to sleep," Blaine responds, although it's entirely without force. He’s come to like this particular name, especially when Sebastian says it the way he often does, low and soft, like a secret kept between them.

"Fine, honey bee."

That one is less amusing. "And I was just thinking I liked you." He really will have to warn his mom about using pet names in texts. Although clearly the damage has been done.

Blaine is drifting off, nearly asleep, when he hears Sebastian's final comment of the evening.

"I really like you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Blaine sings is "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Blaine is awoken by a tentative “hey, I’m out of the shower if you want a turn,” and he’s halfway through washing his hair before he fully remembers the events of the night before. Luckily his head feels fine. His champagne-induced migraine was apparently fully chased away by the combination of Sebastian’s ministrations and sleep.

In his sleepy path to the bathroom Blaine hadn’t thought to bring in any clothes, so when he’s done with his shower he quickly dries himself off and just pulls Sebastian’s sleep pants back on. He’s not sure what to expect when he goes back into the bedroom, but Sebastian staring at him like he’s something out of a porno definitely isn’t it.

“Eyes up here,” Blaine says jokingly. He glances down at himself, chest bare and damp, loose pants slung around his hips. Not such a bad sight. And from the look on Sebastian’s face, his morning push-up routine has been paying off. He stands up straight and tries not to flinch under Sebastian’s intense examination.

Sebastian’s eyes glimmer, and he comes closer to Blaine. “You’re gorgeous, you know.” He reaches up and pushes a wet curl off Blaine’s forehead. 

Sebastian’s fresh from the shower too, but already dressed in a light blue button up and khaki pants. The shirt is open at the collar, and Blaine can see a tiny smudge of shaving cream on his neck.

“You missed a spot.” He brushes at it with his finger, and looks up at Sebastian. He can practically feel how much Sebastian wants to touch him, and he steps back just enough to look him in the eyes. 

Sebastian holds his glance then looks down and chuckles. Blaine follows his gaze, and sees how Sebastian’s pants pool around Blaine’s feet.

“Does it bother you?” Sebastian touches Blaine’s shoulder with his fingertips, draws them down to his elbow. Blaine shivers.

“Does what bother me?”

“That I’m so much taller than you are.” 

Sebastian’s definitely got about six inches on him; he’s a good bit taller than Kurt, as well. Blaine moves closer to Sebastian, until his chest is practically touching his shirt, and looks up at him through his lashes. “Not in the least.” It’s freaking hot, is what it is, but Blaine can’t quite bring himself to say it. Not with words, anyway. “Does it bother you?”

Sebastian full on blushes, and puts a hand to Blaine’s cheek, tilting his head up with a firm grip. “Not in the least,” he breathes out.

Blaine is sure Sebastian’s going to kiss him, and part of him is aching to press himself up against Sebastian, feel his body against his own from head to toe. But Sebastian draws in a long breath and moves back, his hand sliding down to give Blaine’s a squeeze and then release it.

“You said you had to be home by eleven,” he says by way of explanation, looking abashedly at the clock by the bed.

Blaine sighs. “I do. Lunch with my mom and assorted extended family.” He’s tempted to text and say he’s running late, but after not going home the night before, his mom might well begin to lose patience. Or tease him mercilessly about Sebastian. Or both.

“Then you’d probably better get going.” Sebastian runs a hand through his hair. “Do you want me to drive you? Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m feeling great, actually.” Blaine tilts his head and smiles at Sebastian, trying to make his meaning clear. “Really great.”

“Oh,” Sebastian replies, momentarily at a loss for words. “Well, good, then.”

Blaine grabs his clothes from the day before and retreats to the bathroom to change. His suit pants and shirt are comfortable enough for the drive back, and he’ll find something more appropriate to wear when he gets home.

Sebastian walks him out to his car. It’s been a good week, Blaine thinks, and he’s glad for it. Whatever this is between them, it doesn’t have to carry over into real life. If it’s just a holiday hookup, then it was a damn pleasant one, a good memory to bring back to school with him.

“Can I see you tonight?” Sebastian asks, his words tumbling out at Blaine as he opens his car door.

Blaine can’t help the smile that spreads across his face, although he curses himself for being such an open book. 

“What did you have in mind?” He leans against his car, lets Sebastian see his smile. Since he can’t very well hide it, might as well go with honesty.

“Dinner and a movie?”

“It’s a date.” Blaine rises to his toes and gives Sebastian a quick kiss on the cheek, then shuts himself inside his car before he can reconsider. Sebastian watches as he pulls away, his hands thrust into his pockets and a smile playing at his lips. 

Blaine turns on the radio and settles in for the drive. Whatever this is between him and Sebastian, he thinks, it isn’t quite over yet. And that makes him smile.

*****  
After Blaine gets home and changes into fresh clothes (his mom got him some new sweaters, and the navy one with white and red trim on the shawl neck is super comfy), he settles himself on his bed with his laptop. He’s got a few minutes before they need to leave for lunch, and he owes his scene partner a response about a performance they have coming up later in the week. 

Blaine spends a few minutes responding to emails from said scene partner and some other freshman he’s in a study group with, and sends off a revised draft of a proposal for an end of semester project to his advisor. He’s not thrilled about missing school tomorrow, but when he went to make his flight arrangements the prices for flying home the Monday after Thanksgiving were so much more reasonable than returning on Sunday that he decided to risk it. He only has three classes on Monday anyway, and has cleared his absence with his teachers, so as long as he gets his work done he should be fine.

He’s just about to close his laptop when he sees an email from Sam. It’s not his usual means of communication with him – texting is much more Sam’s style – and he opens it curiously. 

Blaine – Gotta talk to you before wedding night. Code red. Call me. Sam

Blaine is confused, and his confusion is only partially abated when he sees that Sam left the message yesterday, probably right around the time Blaine was already on his way to Columbus for Nora’s wedding.

Blaine dials Sam’s number, but it goes to voice mail. He shoots off a text, too, but there’s no response. Oh well, he thinks. Knowing Sam, he could be experiencing any type of emergency from learning that his favorite flavor of Pop Tarts has been discontinued to discovering that an exciting fanfic has been updated. “Code red” doesn’t have to mean something actually bad… at least, he hopes it doesn’t.

It isn’t until Blaine and his mom are driving back from lunch that Sam finally texts him back. 

From Sam: How was your wedding night?

From Blaine: You know I didn’t get married, right?

From Sam: You never know. These things have a way of drawing people in.

From Blaine: I don’t think weddings are contagious. Pretty sure if I’m going to get married, I’ll know in advance.

From Sam: Never say never.

Sam is taking forever to get to the point, Blaine thinks. He looks up at his mom, who is frowning as she pulls off of the highway. “Do you mind if I stop at the store?” she asks. “I just need to run in for a few things.”

“Sure, no problem.” As soon as his mom exits the car, Blaine calls Sam. Luckily this time he picks up.

“Sam, I only have a minute to talk. What was the emergency?”

There’s a rustling sound, and a door creaking. “Sorry, going out on the porch. Stevie keeps bugging me about McKinley gossip. Can you believe he’ll be a high school freshman next year?”

“Sam,” Blaine moans. “Please, focus.”

“Sorry, dude, I’m just trying to help.”

“It would be helpful if you could tell me what the problem is,” Blaine replies, trying to keep his voice light. He loves Sam dearly, he really does, but concentration is not one of his strong suits.

“Oh, it’s no big deal, really. I just figured you should know before you went dancing off into the sunset with Sebastian. Who’s really much better at video games than you, you know.”

“I know, Sam, everyone is better at video games than me.”

“Not Tina, Tina’s really bad at them. Except that one with the cats, but that’s not really a video game-”

“Sam!”

“Fine. I just had a talk with Sebastian that I thought you should know about.”

Now we’re finally getting somewhere, Blaine thinks. “What did he say?”

Blaine hears a crunch, and suspects that Sam has brought a bag of chips with him out on the porch. “When we were at your house the other night, when Jake got into that whole thing about Marley, and whether he’d have a chance with her? I said something to Sebastian about how you guys seemed to be getting along, and he got all grumbly and tried to brush me off. So I said no, really, I’m glad for you. And I am, man, especially if you tell me that the wedding night was a success!”

Blaine can tell that Sam has once again lost his train of thought. “Did he say anything else?”

“Oh, yeah. He said didn’t know if it would work, because of the slushie.”

“The slushie?” Blaine prompts. It isn’t as if Blaine doesn’t know what Sam’s referring to, but he’s hoping there’s a bit more to be gleaned from Sebastian’s comment.

“Yeah, you know, the one that hurt your eye? But I told him not to worry about it, that we all forgave him for that. ‘Cept maybe Santana. But, you know, trolls under the bridge and all.”

“Water under the bridge,” Blaine corrects him. “What did Sebastian say then?”

Sam pauses. He’s really thinking about it. Which is another reason Blaine loves him. 

“Nothing. That was it. Then Jake started talking about Marley.”

Pam returns to the car, and Blaine gets off the phone with Sam. He’s not sure what to think about what Sebastian said. The slushie incident was really bad, there’s no denying it. But Sebastian hadn’t intended to injure anyone, he’d just been stupid. Blaine knows what it’s like to do something stupid and have to pay for it forever. And Sebastian and Blaine had talked about it more than once – a few weeks after he got his eye patch off, and then again last year when the Warblers invited New Directions to one of their post-steroid charity events. Sebastian knew Blaine forgave him, didn’t he?

Blaine thought it over all the way back to his house, and when they got there, retreated to his room to think about it some more. Sebastian was picking him up at six, for the next of what Blaine realized he hoped would be many, many more dates. But if they were going to have a chance at really doing this, the slushie incident needed to be put to rest, once and for all. The only question was how.

*****  
They text back and forth and finally decide to see the movie first, then get a late dinner. It's touch and go for a bit trying to find anything in the area they both want to see - the latest Hunger Games installment seems to have taken over most of the screens, and neither of them are particularly interested in watching Katniss suffer tonight. They settle on _Thor_ \- while Blaine feels a little bad about seeing a superhero movie without Sam, he's not going to have time to see it with him on this trip anyway. He makes himself a silent promise to make sure that they see the next Captain American one together - those are Sam's favorite anyway.

Blaine wishes he could drive this time, but his mom needs the car today, so there's not much to be done about it. It's a little too nice to have a cute boy keep stopping by to take him out; he doesn't want to get used to it.

Sebastian grins at Blaine when he appears at his door, and darts in to give him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. He's clearly happy to see Blaine again, and the excitement that runs through Blaine at this realization is making it hard for him to keep his cool. 

The movie theater is packed, and the line for concessions is long. Sebastian offers to wait whole Blaine grabs their seats, and asks Blaine what he'd like. They both peer around the people in front of them to get a look at the menus (Blaine has more difficulty with this than Sebastian, which they notice with a laugh - it's nice to be six foot two, Blaine imagines). Then Blaine spots something which gives him an idea. 

"I'll take one of those," he says, pointing to the Icee machine. "The blue raspberry flavor, I think."

Sebastian's face goes blank, and he stares at Blaine as if he's just been revealed to be a serial killer.

"I don't have slushie PTSD or anything, Seb. Besides, this way I can throw one at you, and we'll be even."

Blaine means this to be a joke, a lighthearted way for him to signal that Sebastian doesn't have to worry about the whole slushie mess anymore. But from the way Sebastian continues to stare at him, he thinks that he may have made a horrible mistake.

That is until Sebastian lets out an unidentifiable noise and grabs Blaine into a shoulder crushing hug, right in the middle of the concession line. He holds him tight, and at first Blaine isn’t sure whether Sebastian is laughing or crying, given how Sebastian is breathing hard and cackling against his neck. He settles on laughing – probably.

After a long moment, during which Blaine shoots apologetic glances to the three teenage girls in line behind him, Sebastian lets go. He steps back, wipes his face, and meets Blaine’s eyes. "Holy crap, you are something else, Anderson. Are you trying to kill me?"

"Um, no," Blaine replies, "just trying to clear the air."

“Holy crap,” Sebastian mutters again, shooting somewhat dazed glances at Blaine. 

They inch closer to the front of the line, and the kid behind the counter asks them for their order.

"Blaine...” Sebastian stutters, and a panicky laugh pops out, “You don't really want, you don't really want a slushie, do you?" 

Blaine shakes his head at Sebastian and addresses the attendant. "We'll have a large popcorn, a diet coke and a ginger ale, please," he says. He turns to Sebastian, who has produced his wallet in an effort to beat Blaine to paying for the food. "I said I wasn't scared of them, not that I was crazy enough to drink them."

They take their drinks and popcorn and make their way over to the correct theater. It’s one of those new ones, with huge reclining seats. They find their spot, off to the side and in the back – there’s progress, and then there’s Lima, and they don’t need to discuss it to realize that staying out of people’s line of sight is probably a good idea. Blaine takes off his coat and plays with the settings on his chair, sighing a little as it goes all the way back. It’s almost like staying home and watching movies on the couch.

Once the lights go down, before Blaine even has much of a chance to consider it himself, Sebastian raises the armrest between them and promptly curls up against Blaine’s side. Blaine freezes, surprised at this show of affection, but then again Sebastian has been nothing but surprising this week. His newly discovered tendency to cuddle like a puppy can only be a good sign.

Blaine sets their popcorn down on the empty seat next to him and shifts towards Sebastian, finding his hand and twining their fingers together. “You okay?” he asks quietly. The movie hasn’t started yet, and no one is really paying attention to the trailers anyway. He figures now is better than later for finishing this conversation.

Sebastian nods, the point of his chin poking into Blaine’s chest. “Yeah. I’m guessing Sam talked to you? About what I said, about the slushie?”

“Yeah, he did.”

"He's a good friend to you, isn't he?" 

Blaine is relieved that Sebastian feels this way – he could easily have slammed Sam for being too nosy, or too willing to share something Sebastian may have preferred he keep to himself. "He really is."

Sebastian sits up a little bit and finds Blaine’s eyes in the dim light. "Was Sam telling the truth, when he said you had forgiven me for nearly blinding you?"

Blaine can still see the twinge of uncertainty in Sebastian's face. He'd really like it to go away. "Yes. He was telling the truth." Blaine takes in a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. “Sebastian… let’s just say you’re not the only person who’s done things they regret. I know what it’s like to think you can never escape your past. But this doesn’t have to be that thing for you. You can let it go.”

Sebastian looks away at the movie screen for a moment, then back at Blaine. “I’d really like to kiss you right now,” he says directly. “So much, it’s not even funny. But I’d rather our first kiss not be because I’m so fucking relieved I can barely breathe. And making out in a movie theater is so cliché. So… if it’s okay with you, maybe later?”

Blaine laughs softly, and tugs Sebastian back down against him. “Deal.” 

The movie is loud, distracting, and somewhat annoying, but Blaine isn’t paying much attention to it, anyway. Even with Chris Hemsworth larger than life on the movie screen, Blaine is too busy thinking about the boy curled up against him, all six foot two of him stretched out along his side, his feet twining with his on the footrest. A boy who wants to kiss him, and who Blaine is very much looking forward to kissing. 

After the movie, they go to a trendy burger place for dinner. Sebastian takes Blaine’s hand as they walk into the restaurant, a gentle confidence seeming to have found its way into his demeanor over the past few hours. It looks good on him.

Blaine isn’t sure the restaurant is worth all the commotion – it might have a famous chef’s name attached to it, but he doubts said famous chef ever stops by Ohio – but it turns out to be a lot of fun. They each select ridiculously named burgers, and split an order of sweet potato fries. Sebastian’s smiling at him almost constantly now, and Blaine is of course smiling back, and it’s so very, very good.

Once their food comes Blaine tears his attention away from Sebastian’s adorable face and applies himself to his dinner. Since Blaine had forgone eating popcorn for snuggling with Sebastian during the movie, he’s actually pretty hungry, and Sebastian teases him for how he finishes up every remaining fry on the plate.

“They’re too good to waste,” Blaine explains, chasing a bit of ketchup with a final fry.

“Indeed,” Sebastian quips. “You have just a little… here…” Sebastian draws his finger across the corner of Blaine’s lip, despite the fact that Blaine surely does not have any ketchup on his face. No matter, really. 

When the planned activities for the night are over and Sebastian pulls into Blaine’s driveway, there’s no doubt in his mind that he isn’t ready for the evening to end. “Want to come inside?”

Sebastian ducks his head and grins. “Thought you’d never ask.”

Pam is still out – her book club meetings tend to devolve into straight out parties, and Pam is very strict about not driving after drinking. This doesn’t mean she forgoes the sangria, she just doesn’t drive home afterwards.

After they hang up their coats and toe off their shoes, Blaine leads Sebastian into the family room. They sit down on the sofa, Sebastian gazing around the room as Blaine crosses a leg underneath him to face Sebastian. Sebastian’s still wearing the khaki pants and blue button down he put on in the hotel room this morning, and Blaine is suddenly struck by the feeling that it has been a very long and interesting few days.

Sebastian looks at him, a little expectantly, and Blaine starts.

“Oh, I’m sorry – I should have offered you something. Do you want a drink? We’ve got soda, water, coffee… Or are you still hungry? We’ve still got leftover pie, and some cookies my aunt made.”

Sebastian raises his eyebrows, then just giggles and sinks back into the couch. “I’m not hungry for pie, killer,” he says, his eyes filled with laugher, not snark.

“You ass,” Blaine says, and slides closer to Sebastian. “What are you hungry for, then?” he plays along.

Sebastian can’t seem to make himself respond, holding still as his green eyes gaze into Blaine’s. Blaine sets his hand on Sebastian’s shoulder and leans in. Sebastian’s hands come up to cup Blaine’s neck as he moves the last inch to bring them together.

It’s a good kiss, firm and sure, and it only gets better as Blaine shuffles himself closer, Sebastian helping with a hand at the small of his back until they are pressed closely together. Sebastian’s hand clutches Blaine’s sweater and he is still reassuringly holding his face to his own, tilting Blaine’s head at just the right angle. Blaine nibbles at Sebastian’s lip and Sebastian lets out a little gasp, making Blaine dig his fingers into Sebastian’s shirt and slide a hand up into his hair.

They separate after a few moments, both breathing heavily. “Blaine,” Sebastian says, then bites his lip. Blaine’s afraid Sebastian is going to stop them, to say something about having made a mistake, but then Sebastian is kissing him again. It’s more insistent this time, and Blaine aches with how good it feels, Sebastian’s hands roaming over his back and his chest pressed against his own.

He tries to let Sebastian know, moving to kiss along his jaw and down his neck, running his fingertips over his face. Sebastian lets out a low moan, and Blaine thinks it may be the sexiest thing he’s ever heard. He’s seconds from pushing Sebastian down and pressing his body into the couch when Sebastian pulls back, lips red and cheeks flushed, and then just wraps him into a tight hug.

Blaine hugs him back and breathes deeply, trying to get control of his body – it’s easier than his emotions, which are frankly all over the place right now. 

“I should go,” Sebastian mutters into his neck. “You’ve got an early flight tomorrow.” It’s not even midnight, and every college student is capable of staying up far past a reasonable bedtime when the circumstances demand, but Blaine doesn’t call Sebastian on it. He’s not sure if Sebastian is trying to go slow or just changed his mind, but he isn’t capable of enough rational thought right now to figure it out.

He walks Sebastian to the door and watches as he shrugs on his coat. Blaine isn’t sure what to say, whether “text me tomorrow” would be appropriate or not. He finally settles on “thanks for tonight.” Sebastian leans down and gives him a goodnight kiss that makes his knees turn to jelly and then he’s gone, in his car and down the street, leaving Blaine to the solitude of his thoughts. 

*****  
_Later that night..._

"I was trying to be respectful. And, fuck, Sam, I just got scared."

Sam can tell Sebastian is being sincere. Hell, the fact that he picked up when Sam called speaks volumes; it's not like they talk on the phone very often. "I get it, man. But Blaine doesn't. He's worried that you just wanted a one-time thing – a one-week thing, whatever."

"That couldn't be farther from the truth."

"Well, **talk** to him, dude."


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning finds Blaine in the same seat at the back of the plane he had on the way to Ohio. It’s ridiculous o’clock in the morning, and Blaine is barely awake; he figures as soon as the plane takes off he’ll curl up against the window and go back to sleep. Although, his mind thinks unhelpfully, it would be nicer to have Sebastian here to rest on.

One of the flight attendants comes through, making everyone tuck their bags under the seat, and then Blaine smells the unmistakable aroma of decent coffee. It’s too soon for in-flight service – if this flight even comes with such a thing – and Blaine is envious of whoever had enough presence of mind to stop and get coffee in between security and the gate.

“Morning, sunshine.”

Blaine looks up, blinking, and sees Sebastian standing in the aisle, holding out two Starbucks cups. Blaine automatically takes them, and Sebastian quickly slides his carry-on off his shoulder and reaches up to stow it in the overhead compartment, and then help another passenger do the same. His thin v-neck sweater rides up as he stretches, and Blaine is torn between admiring the view and wondering what on earth is going on.

“Surprised to see me?” Sebastian grins as he slides into the middle seat next to Blaine. Blaine had half hoped it would stay empty to give him a little more space, but now he’s awfully glad it’s taken.

“Wasn’t your flight this afternoon?”

“It was. I changed it.”

This makes little sense, especially given that Sebastian doesn’t like early mornings any better than he does – although given how chipper he seems, maybe Blaine is mistaken about that. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“Didn’t want to waste any time.”

“What, do you have homework to do or something?”

Sebastian laughs. “Are you always this oblivious or is it just because you haven’t had your coffee yet?”

Blaine stares at Sebastian, at the freckles on his nose, at the smile that is crinkling the corners of his eyes. At the way he’s turned to focus so intently on Blaine, how the hand that isn’t holding his coffee cup is touching his knee… “Oh… you switched because you wanted to fly with me?”

Sebastian’s smile broadens. “Got it in one. I assumed the feeling would be mutual?” A look of uncertainty passes over his face, and Blaine is quick to respond.

“Yes, it definitely is.” Blaine takes a sip of the coffee Sebastian brought him and smiles. “I was actually just wishing you were here.”

“Oh?”

“Mm-hm.” He wants to tell Sebastian how his heart started pounding as soon as he heard his voice, how his whole day has suddenly brightened. But it’s too soon for that. “You make a comfy pillow.”

“I see.” Sebastian shifts as a passenger gets into the aisle seat, trying to arrange his long legs as best he can in the small space. “Maybe I wanted to sleep on you this time,” he says, his eyes drifting along Blaine’s body. 

Blaine wonders if this is a hint at something deeper or just Sebastian making small talk. “I suppose we could take turns.” 

“Sounds good. I’m flexible,” Sebastian says, with the faintest touch of innuendo.

Definitely something deeper. Blaine can’t help blushing a little bit, and tries to cover it by drinking his coffee, but tucks the thought away for further conversation. Preferably when they aren’t squished into a small space with two hundred other people.

Not long after take-off Sebastian gathers their empty cups and tucks them down by his feet. Then, with a quick glance up at Blaine, he lays his head on his shoulder. Sebastian’s hair is tickling Blaine’s nose, but it smells good, and Blaine curls towards him as best he can in the narrow seat.

“I want you to know this isn’t a holiday hookup,” Sebastian says softly. “Not for me.”

Blaine starts, and almost sits up, but Sebastian tightens his arm around him. “Shh, it’s okay.”

“How did you…?”

“I’m not a mind reader or anything. Sam may have said something.”

“Sam?” Blaine vaguely remembers texting with him last night, after Sebastian left his house. He doesn’t remember exactly what he said, but it definitely had something to do with his confusion over Sebastian’s abrupt departure. And contained a lot of emojis.

“He’s kind of fun to talk to.”

Blaine huffs out a laugh into Sebastian’s hair. “He really is.”

“And he knows a remarkable amount of Na’vi.”

“Don’t tell me you’re a fan.”

“Isn’t everyone?” Sebastian shifts and sits up, finding Blaine’s eyes. “But honestly, I don’t want this to end. This is… amazing. You’re amazing.”

“I don’t want it to end either,” Blaine says softly, his heart fluttering in his chest.

Sebastian smiles, then his expression turns serious. "Look, I know I may have given people the impression in the past that casual was okay with me. But I learned my lesson - that's not who I am anymore. That's not who I want to be."

Blaine sits back. He thinks Sebastian wants him to ask, so he does. "What do you mean, you learned your lesson?"

Sebastian fiddles with his seatbelt. "The summer before last, before our senior year, I went to a math program at MIT. Met this guy, Michael, from New Jersey. I fell for him right away, found myself imagining both of us going to school in New York the next year, the whole nine yards. We had sex all the time-" Sebastian turns a little red here, but keeps going. "We did everything. Stuff I hadn't done before. It was fast, maybe, but it felt good to me. It felt right." Sebastian huffs out a bitter laugh. "But then at the end of the program he told me he has a boyfriend at home, that they had agreed to take a break for the summer, but that he was going back to him now. And that was it, it was over."

"He broke your heart," Blaine says softly, the pain clear on Sebastian's face.

"Yeah. And when I asked his roommate if he knew about the boyfriend back home, he was just like hey, no one thought you'd mind. As if they all just assumed I was..."

A slut, Blaine's mind rudely fills in. But he's not going to make Sebastian finish that sentence.

"Seb, why didn't you tell me?"

Sebastian gives him a disbelieving look. "Do you remember much from our conversations last year? The times we actually talked?"

Blaine tries to think back. There were a few coffees at the Lima Bean, when he had been drowning in guilt over Eli, miserable because Kurt wouldn’t talk to him. "It was pretty much all about me, wasn't it?"

"You were having a really bad time," Sebastian agrees. "You didn't need to hear about my shit."

Blaine thinks that maybe he would have liked to hear about it, to distract himself. Or maybe he wouldn't have been able to feel sympathy for Sebastian over the ruin of a summer fling, not when he had destroyed what he has thought would be a life-long relationship.

"At least you had the Warblers, right?"

Sebastian shrugs. “Actually, I never told them. You gotta remember, I got back to Dalton and the headmaster had brought Hunter in, put him in charge of the Warblers... Things kind of went downhill from there."

"So you had a pretty shit year last year too."

"It got better after Hunter was dethroned, thanks in no small part to you and Sam."

"I'm sorry," Blaine says.

"For what?"

"For doubting you."

Sebastian shrugs. "It's my fault as much as yours. How were you supposed to know what I was thinking?"

Blaine thinks about the way Sebastian has been looking at him all week, the way he took care of him the night after the wedding when he felt like his head was going to explode. "I should have known. You showed me."

Sebastian ducks his head. "I tried." He’s quiet for a moment, then leans against Blaine, presses a quick kiss to his cheek, and settles in, nuzzling against Blaine’s shoulder. “Now go to sleep. I got up ridiculously early for you.”

“So it’s my fault, is it?”

“Entirely,” Sebastian says fondly, giving Blaine’s hand a squeeze.

Blaine closes his eyes and lets himself drift into sleep, Sebastian a warm, comforting weight against his side. He could get used to this.

After they land, Sebastian suggests that they share a cab back to Blaine’s dorm. “I don’t have a lot of luggage – I can just drop this at your place and we can get lunch,” he says, shouldering his carry-on as they walk to baggage claim. 

But Blaine is busy all day with class and rehearsal. Sebastian’s face falls as Blaine explains. “That’s why I took such an early flight.”

“No, it’s okay, I get it.” Sebastian shrugs it off. “Maybe tomorrow?” They run through their schedules for the next few days, but unfortunately nothing seems to match up until the weekend.

“Saturday night, then?” Blaine asks, as Sebastian tugs his suitcase off the carousel for him. 

“Saturday night,” Sebastian agrees, although he still looks disappointed.

"It’ll be fine," Blaine says, bumping his shoulder against Sebastian. "We’ll see if after a week of reality, we still want this."

"I know I will," Sebastian says firmly. 

"Then there's nothing to worry about," Blaine says. 

*****  
The next few days are a flurry of activity. Vacations are great and all, but Blaine really wishes his professors wouldn’t act like their students need to do twice as much work now to make up for the week off. He and Sebastian text back and forth a few times, but Blaine is busy with classes and rehearsals, and figures that Sebastian is suffering the same post-Thanksgiving overload.

Friday night, he’s just gotten back from a choreo rehearsal that went on far longer than anticipated, when he sees a text from Sebastian. _Still on for tomorrow? If you’re too busy, I get it, no problem._

Blaine frowns, plopping down on his bed and pressing Sebastian’s number. Sebastian’s message is weird, and he doesn’t trust text to figure out what’s going on. “Hey,” he says when Sebastian answers. “Everything okay?”

Sebastian responds almost too quickly. “Sure.”

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Blaine says, trying to infuse his words with reassurance.

Sebastian’s relieved sigh is audible. “You are? Me too.” But then he’s quiet, and Blaine wonders if more needs to be said. Maybe it does. And it’s never gone well when he errs on the side of holding back.

“I’ve been crazy busy this week. Rehearsals are just nuts right now – our show is less than two weeks away, and it’s sort of a mash-up of one-act pieces that supposedly all tie together, and I’m in several of them, all with different student directors.”

“That sounds interesting.”

“It is… but it also means trying to find times to meet that work with a dozen different people’s schedules.” 

“Huh.” Sebastian snorts. “So I’m an idiot for assuming you weren’t texting me much because you were trying to break it off.”

“Oh Sebastian, I’m so sorry. You’re not an idiot,” Blaine says gently. “I didn’t mean to make you feel that way, really. I truly was busy. And…”

“And what?”

“I didn’t want to seem like an idiot by texting you all the time,” Blaine admits.

“So we’re both idiots,” Sebastian concludes. Blaine can hear the returning lightness in his voice.

“Apparently.”

*****  
Sebastian has a classmate in one of Columbia’s jazz ensembles, and suggests they go to her winter concert Saturday night. Blaine likes her immediately. “Sabrina, but not a witch,” she introduces herself, and then gives Sebastian a hug and kiss on the cheek that makes him blush. 

“So you’re the hottie Sebastian’s been pining over since break,” she says.

Sebastian groans. “My god, could you not…”

“I’ve never seen this guy check his phone so often. Usually he’s like, ‘Sabrina, don’t get anything near the lab equipment. Sabrina, keep stirring that potion.’”

“Potion?”

“Sabrina likes to pretend our chemistry lab is a class at Hogwarts,” Sebastian explains.

“But you’re not a witch?” Blaine asks, smiling.

“Only in my imagination,” she sighs. “And during boring two-hour long chemistry labs.”

The room is arranged with small tables in front of the stage, and students from other arts classes come around to serve soda and snacks while the big band group performs. Sebastian and Blaine have a table to themselves off to the side, and Blaine is pleased when Sebastian sits close to him, taking his hand in his and placing it on his thigh.

There’s a short break, and then the second group comes on stage. Sabrina is one of two singers, and she’s fabulous, as are the piano player and the alto sax, who both get extended solos. She does a breathtaking job on the classic “Summertime,” and they both stand and applaud when she finishes. 

“Pretty big voice for such a small person,” Sebastian comments with a twinkle in his eye.

“Ha ha, short jokes,” Blaine mutters. 

But then Sebastian curls in tight behind him and sets his chin on Blaine’s shoulder. “You’re perfect,” he whispers, his breath warm on his ear, and Blaine melts.

After the concert, Sabrina asks them to come out with her and some of her bandmates. Sebastian looks torn, and stumbles out the beginning of a response along the lines of “uh, I don’t know if Blaine wants to, we haven’t talked about…” that makes Sabrina chortle. 

“I’m not gonna cockblock you, feel free to go your own way.”

Blaine loves the way Sabrina makes Sebastian flush, however, and since they didn’t have much of a plan for the rest of the evening besides “get something to eat,” he takes Sebastian’s arm in his and nods his assent. “We’re in.”

They end up at a hole in the wall blues club not far from campus, and slide two tables together to hold everyone. The music is loud and the tables are sticky, but the beer comes quickly and the barbeque isn’t half bad. 

When the trio takes a break, Sebastian heads off to the bar to get them some more drinks, and Sabrina turns to Blaine. “So, I know you’re at NYADA. Dancer? Singer? Carpenter?” She punctuates her words with flourishes of the French fry in her hand.

“Actor and singer,” Blaine replies, smiling. 

“And you met Sebastian… how?”

“We were in rival glee clubs in high school.”

Sabrina’s eyes go wide. “Wait a minute, Sebastian can sing?”

“You didn’t know?” Blaine had assumed that’s why he and Sabrina had hit it off. “He was a Warbler. Lead singer, for a while.”

“Didn’t know what?” Sebastian says as returns, placing a pitcher of beer on the table and taking his seat.

“You were a Warbler!” Sabrina crows. She’s a little tipsy. “Wait, what’s a Warbler?”

She has caught the attention of several of the other kids, who all throw in their suggestions. “Folk dancer.” “Yodeler.” “It’s like an owl call.”

“It was the show choir at my school,” Sebastian says, shaking his head. “At least we weren’t called the New Directions.”

There’s a pause, and then general agreement. “Yeah, that’s a dumb name.”

Sabrina gets up from the table, and Blaine and Sebastian get into a debate with the piano player over the dumbest names for musical groups, and soon the next performers are heading up to the low stage. 

“Before we start,” a short man with a guitar around his neck begins, “we have a tradition here of welcoming new guests with an invitation. I’m afraid we can’t have all of you sing tonight” – the group at their table hoots their dismay – “but I understand there’s one fellow here who’s particularly interested in showing off.” He looks to his side, where Sabrina is standing, a shit-eating grin on her face. “Bring him up here.”

Sabrina heads back towards their table, and when Sebastian realizes she’s heading for him, Blaine thinks he’s going to bolt for the door. But then Sebastian glances at Blaine, and a smile spreads across his face. “Guess it’s my turn to sing for you.”

Sebastian bounces up on stage, and ducks down to whisper with the band for a moment. Then he’s adjusting the microphone and looking out over the room. “It’s been a while since I’ve sung for a crowd, but lately I’ve felt more like getting back up on the horse. Hope you like this one.”

The band begins, and Blaine feels his face warm as Sebastian starts singing.

_Billy-Ray was a preacher's son_   
_And when his daddy would visit he'd come along_   
_When they gathered round and started talkin'_   
_That's when Billy would take me walkin'_   
_A-through the backyard we'd go walkin'_   
_Then he'd look into my eyes_   
_Lord knows to my surprise_

_The only one who could ever reach me_   
_Was the son of a preacher man_   
_The only boy who could ever teach me_   
_Was the son of a preacher man_   
_Yes he was, he was_   
_Ooh, yes he was_

Sebastian’s grinning, swaying his hips in time to the music, and Blaine finally tears his eyes away from Sebastian to see that everyone in the room is happily grooving along, Sabrina most of all. Blaine has never heard Sebastian sing anything like this, but he’s rocking it like a boss.

Blaine laughs out loud as Sebastian sings the next lines, a goofy smirk on his face.

_Being good isn't always easy_   
_No matter how hard I try_   
_When he started sweet-talkin' to me_   
_He'd come and tell me everything is all right_   
_He'd kiss and tell me everything is all right_   
_Can I get away again tonight?_

Sebastian slows it down a little at the next verse, finding Blaine’s gaze and holding it steadily. It’s clearly directed at him, and it fills him with an embarrassed sort of joy. He doesn’t even care when the alto sax player whispers “is Blaine’s dad really a preacher?” and Sabrina knocks him in the head with the side of her hand.

_How well I remember_   
_The look that was in his eyes_   
_Stealin' kisses from me on the sly_   
_Takin' time to make time_   
_Tellin' me that he's all mine_   
_Learnin' from each other's knowing_   
_Lookin' to see how much we've grown_

Sebastian launches into the end, singing once more about “the only one who could ever reach me” and encouraging the room to sing along. Blaine wishes for a moment that they could fade to black right now, because he’s not sure the night can get any better. 

It does, though, when Sebastian drops him at his dorm room, crowding him up against the door, and pressing insistent, firm kisses to his lips. Blaine’s roommate is inside, so even if he was inclined to do more than kiss (and part of him is very, very inclined) it’s not going to happen tonight, but a few minutes of making out in the hallway suits him just fine as a lovely end to a lovely evening.

“Good date?” Sebastian asks, stepping back enough to look at Blaine, a hand resting on Blaine’s hip.

Blaine pulls his gaze from Sebastian’s red lips up to his sparkling green eyes, and smiles. “Excellent date.”

*****  
Again, Sebastian panics a little when they try to schedule their next date. The week ahead is even more packed than the previous one, and not even Saturday night works for both of them – it’s the NYADA play that Kurt is in, and while that would be awkward enough for them to attend together, Blaine has already volunteered to work backstage. They finally settle on a somewhat early Sunday brunch, squeezing it in before Blaine’s rehearsal and after Sebastian’s study group.

In the meantime, Blaine tries not to worry about whether he is sending Sebastian too many texts, or calling him too often, or wasting time googling the city’s best brunch spots when he should be paying attention in class. 

Not surprisingly, Sebastian turns out to be a very clever texter. Blaine thinks he’s becoming more comfortable with whatever it is the two of them are doing, letting a little bit of the old, confident Sebastian shine through his current overlay of hesitation. It’s still mostly family-friendly, but it’s nice to know Sebastian is thinking of him so often. It’s _really_ nice.

****

Thursday afternoon Blaine is sitting in the student lounge, killing time before his next class, when Kurt abruptly appears in front of him. “May I join you?”

Kurt’s got on tight black pants with a silver design climbing up the side, and a long sleeved shirt with swirls of purple and orange that is practically painted on, showing off his toned chest. He’s dressed to kill; Blaine just hopes he isn’t the target.

“Of course.” Blaine nods to the empty space on the couch next to him, and Kurt sits down stiffly, holding his books on his lap. He doesn’t say anything, but Blaine can tell from the way he’s biting his lip that whatever he has in mind isn’t coming easily.

“I don’t want this to be awkward,” Kurt finally says, his eyes darting around the room, and then back up to Blaine. “I wanted you to know I’m fine with it. With you and Sebastian.”

Blaine pushes aside the first thing that springs to his mind – I don’t need your approval, Kurt – and draws in a deep breath. But before he can formulate a better response, Kurt continues.

“Sorry, that sounded bad, didn’t it?” Kurt sighs. “That’s not what I mean.”

“What _do_ you mean?” And how did you find out, Blaine wonders. Not that he was hiding it, or anything, but he’s only been on two dates with Sebastian since getting back to the city, and it’s not like he has been confiding in Kurt about his personal life these days.

“Tina called me.”

Blaine grimaces. This could be good or bad.

“And?”

“Well, I know she’s not the most reliable narrator,” Kurt pauses, and the look on his face is too much – Blaine laughs, and a little of the tension slips away.

“That’s certainly true.”

“But she said Sebastian’s different now, he was good to you last year, through all of our…” Kurt shrugs a shoulder, “and she thinks he’ll be good to you now.” Kurt pinches the bridge of his nose. “And given how protective Tina is of you, I have to think that she wouldn’t say that, if she didn’t believe it.”

Blaine considers this. “I think Tina may be right this time.”

“And I know I don’t have any say over what you do, but this is an awfully small place… I just don’t want it to be awkward. Or, at least, any more awkward than everything else is between us.”

Blaine startles, finally looking Kurt in the eyes. It’s the closest they’ve come to talking about their current post-dating relationship, how strange it has been to inhabit this school together as exes. It’s refreshing.

“Thanks, Kurt.”

Kurt nods, fiddles with the spiral on his notebook. “So, is he coming to see you in the show?”

“I hope so. I haven’t asked him yet.”

Kurt raises his eyebrows at him. “Well, you better buy him a ticket before they’re all sold out. Rumor is there’s a dark haired tenor who’s going to be a real show-stopper.” He stands up and leaves the room, but not before looking back over his shoulder and winking at Blaine.

*****

Blaine finds himself on the phone with his mom early Sunday morning before he is due to see Sebastian. It’s an odd time for a phone call, but he makes a point of calling her every Sunday… and since he’s got tech rehearsal this afternoon and evening, early is the only available time.

She knows he’s dating Sebastian – he thinks she knew it before he did, when Sebastian took him out to the movies after Thanksgiving, and Blaine was still under the misconception that it was just Sebastian distracting himself from the stress of a week with his family. And she’s curious, of course, as to how it’s going.

Blaine happily fills her on his week, makes her laugh with a description of a particularly funny skit from his improv class, and gets some sympathy for his upcoming exams. He’s just about to beg off and start thinking about getting ready for the day when things take a more serious turn.

“Sebastian’s the first person you’ve dated since Kurt, isn’t he?” Pam asks. This isn’t news to Blaine, of course, but for some reason the juxtaposition of Sebastian and Kurt hits him hard. Before he can fully process it, his mom continues. “Kind of funny that you’d date another Ohio boy, instead of someone from school.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, of course not, honey. It’s just a coincidence.”

Blaine mulls over his mother’s words while he showers. For the first few weeks of school, his mom had pestered him with questions about his classmates, whether there were any “cute boys” he was interested in. But Blaine had been focused on his work, and frankly, NYADA was an awfully small sea in which to fish. Not to mention that with Kurt and Rachel right there, it sometimes felt like a very tiny fishbowl. He thinks it’s a good thing to date outside their intense little drama community.

But of course, there are millions of boys who don’t go to NYADA, if that was his only criteria. It doesn’t explain why he wound up with Sebastian, fellow Dalton alum and glee club survivor. Is he just retreating to a familiar face, a known quantity, instead of venturing out? Is Sebastian a rebound?

Blaine thinks of the way Sebastian looked at him when Blaine sang at Nora’s wedding, the way his hand comes around to rest at the small of his back. The way he grinned when Blaine finally saw him on the airplane, two coffees in hand. Nothing about this feels stale. This thing between them is brand new, and Blaine isn’t going to let the fact that he knew Sebastian when get in the way of what is going on right now. It’s new, and it’s wonderful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian sings "Son of a Preacher Man" which was recorded by Dusty Springfield. My very favorite version of it, however, is done by a much lesser known group (which describes its music as three-part harmony folk-pop) called Girlyman - check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQNMokoS30I.


	6. Chapter 6

“I still can’t believe you got us reservations here.” Blaine is practically drooling as he looks over the menu at Sarabeth’s, one of the most popular places for Sunday brunch in the city.

“I just got lucky,” Sebastian says, and reaches out to give Blaine’s hand a squeeze. From the fond look on his face, it doesn’t seem like he’s referring to his reservation making karma.

They place their orders and then take their time filling each other in on what’s been going on since they last saw each other. Not that they haven’t talked on the phone and texted, but it’s different in person. Blaine likes being able to watch Sebastian’s face when he gets excited talking about his psychology class, and his hands start waving around to make his point. And he really likes it when Sebastian scoots his chair a little closer, to make it easier to bump shoulders with Blaine and take a sip of his iced tea, to see if it really tastes okay with just a half packet of sugar.

When their food arrives – lemon ricotta pancakes with blackberries for Blaine (“I have to order them, it’s their signature dish”) and a vegetable frittata for Sebastian, it only takes a few minutes of Sebastian reaching over to take just one more bite of Blaine’s pancakes before he slices a line down the middle of the stack and slides one half over to Sebastian’s plate. Sebastian does the same with his eggs, and they wind up trading silly smiles as they eat their meals.

Sebastian is chasing his last blackberry around his plate and eyeing the few left on Blaine’s when Blaine figures it’s now or never. There’s no real reason why he should feel embarrassed about asking Sebastian to come to his show – he’s done it before – but somehow things feel different now. He’s in a pre-professional program, supposedly in training to be a real actor, not just a kid in a high school production. He’s not sure how he’s going to look next to all the other divas in his class, whether he will be good enough to prove that he deserves his place at NYADA, or make a fool of himself. But clearly Sebastian must have guessed that all his rehearsals are meant to culminate in a performance, and it would probably be worse if he didn’t invite him.

“So, what are you doing Saturday night?”

Sebastian finishes chewing and wipes his mouth with his napkin. “Helping out with a speaker series. It’s actually pretty cool – it’s for Columbia’s chapter of Active Minds.”

Blaine’s heart sinks at the thought that he waited too long to ask Sebastian, and now he has other plans. But Sebastian must take his silence as confusion, as he continues explaining. “It’s an organization that works to de-stigmatize mental health issues. When my psych professor asked for volunteers earlier this year to help out with a film showing, I figured I’d give it a try.”

Blaine’s heart is racing. This is not what he expected Sebastian to be doing with his free time. “Have you had… issues?” he asks, clenching his hands together under the table.

“No,” Sebastian replies. “But my mom had a lot of challenges with depression when I was younger. She always had a hard time talking about it, so I get why this is important.”

“I think I was depressed last year.” The words fall out of Blaine’s mouth without intention, and his chest gets tight when he realizes what he’s said. He’s never told this to anyone before, not even when his mom hinted about whether he should “see someone” when he stopped gelling on weekends last fall, when it seemed like the most difficult thing in the world just to get out of bed. When Kurt refused to return his calls, but had no problem returning his gifts. He looks away, worried about what Sebastian will think, but when he lets his gaze flicker back, there is only understanding in Sebastian’s eyes.

Sebastian nods, pushes his toe against Blaine’s foot under the table. “It’s more common than most people think,” he says softly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Blaine shrugs nervously. “Maybe sometime?” The thought of saying any more right now is petrifying, but the idea that it wouldn’t be a taboo topic makes something deep inside him relax.

“I don’t think there’s a chapter of Active Minds at NYADA, but you could always come to ours if you want. I’ll send you a link to the webpage.”

“Thanks.”

Sebastian seems to sense that Blaine has exhausted his ability to handle this subject for now, and he deftly turns the conversation to some drama going on in Sabrina’s jazz ensemble involving their teaching assistant and the alto sax player. Blaine’s hands slowly stop trembling as Sebastian speaks, and before long he’s sucked into the problem of whether Sabrina should tell the teaching assistant that they all know, or just mind her own business. 

Before they know it it’s time for Blaine to head off to school. Sebastian pulls him into a hug outside the restaurant, and Blaine lets himself sink into it for a long beat. He hadn’t expected to feel so emotional about Sunday brunch – usually he just gets a sugar high – but the conversation this morning has thrown him for a loop. “Wish I didn’t have to go,” he says into Sebastian’s ear, feeling altogether more shy around him than he has before.

“S’okay, killer. You’ve got work to do. Gotta show off that Blaine Anderson talent to the world.”

Blaine steps back and smiles. Sebastian’s praise may be cheesy, but it feels good just the same. “I guess I do.”

Sebastian kisses him quickly, then steps back, grinning. “Knock ‘em dead today. And call me tonight, no matter what time you’re done, okay? I won’t be able to sleep until I know whether you’re going to keep that choreo for the second number or switch it up.”

Blaine laughs. “I’ll call you.” He can’t resist leaning in for one more kiss before he heads off down the street. It comes back to him a few times during the day’s never-ending rehearsal; someone will be waiting up for him to hear how his day went. Each time, it makes him smile.

****

Blaine realizes halfway through the week that he still hasn’t told Sebastian about his upcoming performance. He’s not sure what to do; Sebastian has a legitimate conflict, and that’s fine, he’s not going to fall to pieces if Sebastian isn’t there to see him sing show tunes. But at this point not telling him is starting to feel a little too much like hiding something.

He’s not surprised that he forgot to talk about it on Sunday; he was so shaken by the conversation about mental health that he understands why he never circled back to plans for Saturday. And now they’ve agreed to meet again next Sunday, for dinner this time, when they are both free, and the topic of Saturday night is unlikely to come up again.

He’s sitting in the mostly empty NYADA cafeteria Thursday night, picking at the remains of a wilted salad, when his phone buzzes in his pocket. 

Sebastian doesn’t even say hello before he gets to the point. “Why didn’t you tell me your show was Saturday?”

“How did you find out?” Not really the right answer, Blaine thinks to himself. He has got to work on his filter.

“I looked at the NYADA website.” Blaine hears Sebastian sigh. “That’s why you asked what I was doing on Saturday.”

“Yeah. But it’s okay, I understand.”

“No, it’s totally not okay. I want to be there.”

This makes little butterflies swarm in Blaine’s chest. “That means a lot to me, Sebastian. But there’ll be other shows.”

Sebastian huffs. “Well, I should hope so. Still…”

“Look, don’t worry about it, okay? I promise to give you a full play by play when I see you on Sunday. And it’ll be recorded, you can even watch it later if you want to.”

There’s a pause, and Blaine can hear a door close.

“You were really thrown by our conversation on Sunday, weren’t you?” Sebastian says quietly.

“Yeah, I was.” The butterflies have now moved into his stomach, where they are decidedly less joyful and more anxious.

“I’m not freaked out about it, you know. Having depression doesn’t make you any less of a person. It doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

Blaine can feel tears welling up in his eyes, and he rapidly presses his rough paper napkin to his face, checking to see if anyone else is around. This conversation cannot happen here. “I can’t… I’m in the cafeteria at school.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. Want to talk later? Or we don’t have to – I’m sorry I said anything-”

“No, Sebastian, no. I, um…” Blaine draws in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Thank you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

*****  
Friday goes by in a blur, between classes and a dress rehearsal that goes as badly as dress rehearsals are destined to go. Blaine’s costume for one number includes sweatpants that cling so tightly to his ass they’re indecent, a tank top that leaves little to the imagination, and an incredibly unattractive headband. Then he has just one scene to transform into a debonair, tuxedo wearing ladies’ man. It’s exhausting.

He is able to sleep a little later Saturday morning, and he takes his time showering and getting ready. Call time is at three, for some final sound checks, and when Blaine arrives at school the green room is abuzz. 

“Something wrong?” he asks, in the general direction of the chaos.

“Tech crew was having lunch, spilled something sticky on the sound board,” the stage manager replies. “Not sure it will get fixed in time.”

“You’ll all do fine,” the assistant director says. “The acoustics are phenomenal in the round room.”

It’s true, and they never practiced with mics, at least not until two days ago. But it’s bound to throw some people off. 

The cast does some vocal warmups and they run through a few of the numbers that were giving them trouble the night before. Blaine loses track of the number of times the music director tells the pit orchestra to quiet down, and revises his previous thought – they may have done fine without mics in rehearsal, but that was before they had a twelve piece orchestra playing at the same time. 

Soon it’s time to get into costume, and Blaine valiantly pulls on his sweatpants and tank top. The freshman musical is basically a series of show tunes, loosely tied together by a barely-there plot which tracks a group of aspiring actors auditioning to be in various Broadway shows. Of course it starts off with a long scene from _A Chorus Line, _which is a musical about aspiring actors auditioning to be in a Broadway show… Blaine bites his tongue as he remembers explaining it to his mom and Cooper at Thanksgiving. “For a school showcasing creativity, this one isn’t really the best example of their strengths, is it?” his mom had said. Luckily she seemed to be amused about the whole thing, instead of calling up NYADA and demanding her money back.__

__Thinking of his mom distracts him for a moment; she had offered to come to New York for the show, but Blaine had checked in with some of his castmates and none of them were having family come. He wasn’t sure if it was considered childish to have your parents come to a college performance, or just impractical given how many times they were going to be performing throughout their time at NYADA, but he didn’t want to make waves. Pam assured him that it was fine, that she would watch the livestream in her pajamas with a box of issues at the ready (she often cries when Blaine sings – even if he is singing happy songs. It’s just what she does)._ _

__Finally it’s time, and the show begins. Blaine feels the familiar surge of adrenaline when the curtain pulls back, revealing them in their _Chorus Line_ positions. He’s got the first solo number, singing “I Can Do That,” about a boy who discovers his love for dance while watching his sister’s ballet class. It isn’t until his number is over and he has resumed his position in the line (while Emily from his history of theater class is killing “Nothing”) that he has a moment to let his glance wander out over the audience. He sees a number of his professors and fellow students, including Kurt and Rachel close to the front. _ _

__They finish their _Chorus Line_ set and Blaine is turning to exit the stage when a wolf whistle draws his attention, and he spies Sebastian, close to the back, standing up to applaud. He can’t help but smile, scooting offstage as quickly as possible, so as not to reveal his out of character blush. _ _

__Blaine doesn’t have time to wonder how Sebastian managed to be here, however, because he has only a few minutes to change into his next costume. He and his roommate, Ryan, along with Emily, are singing “Good Morning” from _Singing in the Rain._ It’s a great number, and they have managed to do some fun choreography too. Blaine thinks it pays tribute to the original quite well, even if the director changed a few things around._ _

__They make it through the piece, even managing the bit where they step over the couch, and Blaine again hears Sebastian in the crowd. It’s kind of awesome._ _

__He’s got a break of twenty minutes or so before he has to be on stage again, as part of the chorus in “The Farmer and the Cowman” from _Oklahoma_ (he’s really not sure what this one has to do with the plot, although the same could be said for most of the numbers), so he takes his time touching up his makeup and getting into his cowboy costume. He likes this number – he’s partnered with Zola, the only other freshman who got into improv troupe with him – and they have a great time together hamming it up. Plus the cowboy boots give him another couple inches of height, which is fun. Although if he wears them too long, his toes ache._ _

__After the _Oklahoma_ number they circle back to _A Chorus Line_ again, everyone on stage belting out “What I Did For Love,” mashed up with “Lullaby of Broadway” from _42nd Street._ Some of the senior composition majors had a hand in this one, Blaine remembers, as they manage to stick a rather awkward transition. But it all ends well, with the audience standing and cheering, and his castmates grinning with relief. _ _

__Backstage, Blaine changes out of his costume and washes the stage makeup off his face. It’s crowded in their dressing area, but everyone is high on the fact that they made it through and are generally pretty giddy. There are plenty of hugs and slaps on the back, but Blaine’s mind is on his unexpected guest._ _

__Blaine makes his way out to the lobby, where students and faculty are milling about, waiting to see the cast members. He stands off to the side and lifts up on his toes, looking for Sebastian. Seconds later, Sebastian finds him, his smile broad and genuine. He pulls Blaine into a hug, the flowers Blaine glimpses momentarily forgotten. “You were awesome, killer,” Sebastian congratulates him, and Blaine feels his face warm with the praise._ _

__“I’m so glad you came,” Blaine says, mostly into the side of Sebastian’s head, then pulls back to look at him. “But how did you pull it off? You were supposed to help with the speaker at school tonight.”_ _

__Sebastian ducks his head and shrugs. “I talked to some of the kids in my psych class. As soon as I told them I was going to miss my boyfriend’s New York City debut, three of them volunteered to take my place.” He grins at Blaine, his green eyes flashing. “What I did for love,” he quips, smirking at the reference to the song that just ended Blaine’s show._ _

__Blaine is frozen for a minute, but Sebastian continues gazing at him warmly, and Blaine decides that he’s not actually declaring his love, just being adorable. Which isn’t a word that he would have used to describe Sebastian until recently, but it’s happening more and more. Blaine tucks his fingers around the collar of Sebastian’s dark gray suit jacket and leans up to brush his lips against his. Hopefully just a hint of more to come, he thinks, loving the way Sebastian reacts, faintly blushing under his freckles._ _

__They don’t have long to themselves, however, as the kids from Blaine’s improv troupe descend upon them, offering congratulations. The upperclassmen are all generous with their compliments, as are two Blaine’s professors who come up to speak with him. Blaine is just about to see if he and Sebastian can slip out when he is nearly bowled over by a heartfelt embrace from none other than Rachel Berry._ _

__“That was fantastic, Blaine! You are certainly carrying on the McKinley tradition,” she says, beaming at him._ _

__“Thanks, Rachel.”_ _

__“And no matter what anyone says, it wasn’t cheesy,” Rachel continues. “It was a lesson in the classics. You can’t learn without a proper foundation.”_ _

__“They’re classics for a reason,” Sebastian chimes in, with an approving look at Blaine – who is wearing the most traditional of dark tuxes, with a white shirt and a subtly striped black on black bowtie._ _

__Rachel’s head swivels to Sebastian, and she gives him a prim nod. “Your first time at a NYADA event, Sebastian? What did you think?”_ _

__“I think I’ll be watching many more of your fine productions.”_ _

__Rachel smiles proudly at this, taking the compliment personally, and takes her leave._ _

__“Rachel didn’t seem surprised to see you,” Blaine says, turning to Sebastian and linking his arm through his. His slim fitting suit flatters him, and Blaine’s mind flutters back to Nora’s wedding, how good Sebastian had looked in a tux. And how nervous he had been._ _

__“I talked to Rachel and Kurt before the show started,” Sebastian says, a flicker of uncertainty running across his face. “And they were both perfectly nice. No threats, veiled or otherwise.”_ _

__Coincidentally, Blaine glances up at that moment and sees Kurt, who is across the room talking with his boyfriend Louis and Madame Tibideaux. Kurt waves a thumbs up and flashes him a smile. Blaine exhales in relief; maybe they really can all get through this without high school levels of drama._ _

__“So, do you have to go to the cast party now?” Sebastian asks casually, shoving his hands in the pockets of his pants._ _

__Blaine blinks, realizing that they haven’t made any plans yet. “No, actually,” Blaine says. “Since there are a group of shows going up this weekend, we’re having a combined cast party tomorrow night.” He tilts his head at Sebastian and smiles up at him. “Did you have something in mind?” There’s no way he’s saying goodnight to Sebastian right now, he thinks. He just hopes Sebastian is on the same page. They’ve been dating for weeks now, but almost never have any time to themselves._ _

__“I did, actually.” Sebastian bites his lip, but then seems to make up his mind. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place. I’ve got a nice bottle of wine, and some cheese and crackers from that new place on the corner…”_ _

__“And no roommates,” Blaine says, searching Sebastian’s eyes._ _

__“And no roommates,” Sebastian agrees, holding Blaine’s gaze. “You could even stay over, since it’s late already.” Sebastian seems to be holding his breath, and Blaine doesn’t waste any time in replying._ _

__“Sounds like a plan.” Blaine can see Sebastian relax at this, and Blaine quickly finds his hand and weaves their fingers together. “Let’s go.”_ _

__They make a quick stop at Blaine’s dorm room so he can grab a backpack and stuff it with essentials and clothes for the next day, then head out to the street. Sebastian flags down a cab and they shuffle in, Blaine leaning his head against Sebastian’s shoulder. It’s almost a straight shot uptown; Sebastian’s apartment isn’t far from Columbia._ _

__“How did you wind up with this place, anyway?” Blaine asks as they arrive, Sebastian nodding familiarly at the doorman. It’s clearly far nicer than what the majority of college students can afford._ _

__“My parents bought it when Whitman was thinking about going to college in the city,” Sebastian replies, as they take the elevator up. “Whit got a new place downtown when he graduated, and this one has been empty for the past couple of years. It’s mine as long as I want it.”_ _

__Sebastian lets him in the front door, and they go inside. Blaine sets his bag on a side table as they both toe off their shoes._ _

__Sebastian takes Blaine’s hand. “Come on, I’ll give you the tour.” He tugs him into the center of the room in front of them. “Living room,” he announces. There’s a small dark leather couch and a matching armchair, and a coffee table piled high with books and papers in front of the couch. A carpet in dark red tones brings a warmth to the room. “Okay, turn,” Sebastian says, inclining Blaine’s shoulders to the right. “Kitchen.” A narrow breakfast bar separates the living area from a tiny kitchen._ _

__“And down this way,” Sebastian brings him down the hall, “bedroom and bath. It’s not exactly a palace.” Sebastian shrugs._ _

__“It’s great, I like it,” Blaine says, wandering back towards the kitchen. “It seems comfy.” He peers into the kitchen. It’s small, but neat. There’s an expensive looking espresso maker tucked into a corner, and Blaine wonders about all their coffee dates that apparently could have just happened right here, if the two of them weren’t so timid. “You said something about cheese and crackers?”_ _

__“Oh, yeah.” Sebastian looks relieved to be given a task, and Blaine sits down on one of the high stools. Sebastian swiftly pulls out an already arranged cheese plate covered in plastic wrap, and a bowl of grapes. It’s clear that he planned ahead._ _

__Sebastian sees the look Blaine is giving him, and squirms. “Think sweet, not creepy, okay?”_ _

__“Deal.” Blaine grabs Sebastian’s wrist as he sets a glass in front of him, and stretches to give him a quick kiss. “Honestly, I’m so glad you were able to see my show. It means a lot.”_ _

__“You’re really talented, Blaine. And not just in a high school glee club kind of way. You’re going to make it.”_ _

__“I don’t know about that,” Blaine protests, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “But it’s nice that you think so.”_ _

__“Me and everyone else in that audience tonight.” Sebastian nods towards the bottle of red wine. “I do have some good wine I can open up. Or we can just have water. I may even have some ginger ale…” He winks at Blaine._ _

__Blaine laughs. “I think water, actually. I’m pretty tired, and…” he pauses, looking for any sign of disapproval on Sebastian’s face, “I’d rather stay awake as long as possible.”_ _

__“Good. Me too.”_ _

__They gather their snacks, along with two bottles of water, and head over to the couch. Sebastian asks him about some of his castmates, and Blaine wants to know how the number from _Music Man_ went – he was backstage for it. Rock Island is a tricky song, and some of the guys had been having trouble with the rhythm, but Sebastian says it went well._ _

__The conversation slows. Blaine can see Sebastian’s eyes flickering from his own to his lips and back again, and soon they are leaning together for a gentle kiss. They slide closer, one of Sebastian’s arms coming around Blaine’s shoulders, and the other wrapping around his waist. It’s lovely, and all Blaine can think is how much he wants this, how much he wants to be as close as possible to this boy. Blaine cups Sebastian’s cheek and the kiss intensifies, their mouths falling open against each other. Sebastian lets out a little moan and Blaine feels his body throb in response._ _

__Sebastian’s fingers wander to Blaine’s neck. “You don’t know how often I’ve fantasized about taking off this bowtie of yours,” he breathes out, tugging on one end of the silk._ _

__“So go ahead.” Blaine shivers in anticipation, but Sebastian takes his time, undoing the knot and then sliding the silk out of Blaine’s collar, all the while pressing kisses to Blaine’s neck and jaw. When it’s finally done, Blaine is breathing hard, waiting to see if Sebastian starts to unbutton his shirt, and continue his ministrations down his chest. He’s hoping he will._ _

__But Sebastian doesn’t keep going. Instead he pulls back, resting his forehead against Blaine’s. His hands are still restlessly running over Blaine’s shoulders and his back, but he seems to be struggling to put something into words._ _

__“Seb? You okay?” Blaine knows Sebastian has wanted to take things slow, and he understands. He’s certainly not going to push. Just because Sebastian had seemed less hesitant earlier doesn’t mean he’s entirely comfortable yet._ _

__Sebastian brushes a finger along Blaine’s hairline, smoothing a wayward strand back into place. “Yeah, I am. More than okay.” He draws in a deep breath and finds Blaine’s eyes. “I promise I’m not going to run away this time.”_ _

__Blaine thinks of that night at his house in Ohio, when Sebastian had gotten skittish during their make out session. “We don’t have to do more…” Blaine waves a hand meaninglessly between the two of them. “Really, we don’t.”_ _

__Sebastian leans in and kisses Blaine in response, the hand on Blaine’s back pulling him practically into Sebastian’s lap. “No, you don’t understand,” Sebastian whispers breathlessly into Blaine’s ear, in between nips at his jaw. “I want to. I really do. I trust you.” There’s an insecurity there that tugs at Blaine’s heart._ _

__“Sebastian,” Blaine says gently, running his hand through Sebastian’s hair and shifting so that he can see his face. “I trust you too.”_ _

__Sebastian’s eyes light up, and he dives in for another kiss, knocking Blaine down on to his back, flat on the couch. Sebastian straddles his hips, up on his knees, and grins down at Blaine. It’s as if the countdown is over, and all systems are go. “This is going to be awesome.”_ _

___Several hours later…_ _ _

__Blaine wakes up in an unfamiliar bed that smells a little like Sebastian’s cologne and a lot like sex. He can feel a smile stretching his cheeks as he turns, reaching for his boyfriend, but he’s met only with empty space. He squints an eye open and sees Sebastian standing at the window, wrapped in a blanket._ _

__Blaine slides out of bed and joins Sebastian, who opens his arms so that Blaine can snuggle inside his warm cocoon. Outside it’s snowing, the flakes swirling down towards the ground, illuminated by the streetlights._ _

__“First snow of the year,” Sebastian murmurs, pressing a kiss into Blaine’s messy hair._ _

__“A good night for firsts,” Blaine says, pressing back teasingly against Sebastian with his ass._ _

__Sebastian groans, turning Blaine in his arms and kissing him firmly. “You’re gonna kill me,”_ _

__“Well, I figured it was about time to earn my nickname.”_ _

__Dating Sebastian is nothing like Blaine ever imagined it could be. Turns out, it’s much, much better._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


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